


Don't You Want To See These Clothes On Me

by theartificialluci



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: F/F, F/M, Homophobia, Models, insecure crystal, kinda inspired by pretty woman and devil wears prada and bombshell, plenty of relationships to be added, problematic rupaul, protective gigi, repressed gigi, workplace lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 76,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24597268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartificialluci/pseuds/theartificialluci
Summary: Crystal Methyd makes a mistake. To save her career, her boss suggests she works with poised and ruthless PR manager Gigi Goode. Crystal knows there's a reason the two of them don't get along and, soon enough, they're both caught up in a scandal that will ruin a lot more than their reputations.Fashion Magazine AU
Relationships: Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd, Miz Cracker/Jujubee, Monét X Change/Miz Cracker, Shea Couleé/Sasha Velour
Comments: 111
Kudos: 336





	1. The Meeting

Of course, for the first time since August began, it had decided to rain today. It was now nearing the end of the month, and Crystal had found the choice to not bring some form of jacket an easy one. Even though it was basically the crack of dawn, and she knew the sky would still have the night time chill, she had never thought she would be shivering like this as she walked briskly down the street. Pathetic fallacy, she supposed. 

She’d gotten up even earlier than she needed just to make sure her dark red curls fell down to her chest in just the right way. Now, they were as frizzed and wild as they usually were when she woke up. When she’d seen her reflection in a parked car beside her, she’d groaned in frustration, loud enough for the people asleep in the apartments around her to hear. She was going to be eaten alive today.

It was only a short walk to the building she’d been looking for, she knew it well, but since leaving her own apartment it had seemed like an eternity. Eventually, the apartment buildings thinned out and made way for a large, modern building with marbled steps and white roses planted outside. It was too much for Crystal, and she’d wrinkled her nose when she’d first seen them, but her boss had insisted they were necessary for the ‘brand’. 

She didn’t approve of the large golden sign above the glass doors either, but they had been there for many years before she’d joined the company. The lettering read; ‘Tchotchke House’, signifying the home of ‘Tchotchke Magazine’. There was a keypad on the side of the door and Crystal punched in the four-number sequence so they opened in front of her like the gates of Heaven. 

There was a security desk in front of her, as marbled as the steps. The room, though scarce aside from the desk and some ‘L’ shaped couches, was obnoxiously bright and shining. Huge gold frames hung on the walls and held the glossy covers of ‘Tchotchke Magazine’. One cover showed the Editor-in-Chief and another the Editor. Crystal recognised the other models, she’d even interviewed most of them, and now they stared down at her in judgement. She glared when she walked below them. She hovered by the security desk, waiting for the man to look up. Instead, he just pressed the button that unlocked the main door and sighed. They must all be expecting her then, she realised. Crystal offered him a polite smile even though he never looked up at her. Normally, he would at least grunt when she entered but she supposed it was too early for him to care today. 

Once unlocked, the doors were automatic, and opened when she stepped near enough. She remembered questioning the level of security on the first day, when her interviewer asked if she had any questions. There was nothing in the building to steal, she had pondered, aside from expensive printers and furnishings. Her boss had said, ‘Ideas are just as valuable as money. Well, mine are anyway’. Crystal had no idea how her interview had gone as well as it had. 

She thought back to how sad her boss had sounded on the phone last night. Crystal supposed it was more disappointed or maybe even angry. It wasn’t as though the power house usually sounded friendly, but there was always a hint of fondness when she spoke. Or, at the very least, she would follow up an insult with an explanation or a compliment. There had been none of that this time. 

She found herself in the grand reception just moments later. Her anxiety was boiling over now that she didn’t have the weather to complain about, and she was overthinking way too much about the day she was about to have. 

"I'm here for a disciplinary meeting," mumbled Crystal, embarrassed. 

The receptionist looked up at her when she shuffled into the room and gave her a warm smile. Crystal noticed how her eyes widened. If she’d wanted to say something, she’d thought better of it. There was someone else in the room, but Crystal’s mind was only on herself. 

Sharp, stiletto nails dug into the thighs of her flared trousers. They were painted a bright, unprofessional red. When they inevitably chipped within the next few days, she’d simply paint over them again, leaving them lumpy and uneven. They never really looked that nice and the polish was more irritating than appealing, but it meant that Crystal wouldn’t pick at them. If they were painted, she wouldn’t bite them or scratch the red from her hands. This was ordinarily a very successful plan to fix her habit but her fingernails didn’t stand a chance today. If she bit them when she was nervous, then by the end of the day, she wouldn’t have any hands left. 

She was momentarily distracted by the trembling of her legs. When she’d stopped walking, she’d had to lean on the wall and she was grateful to the receptionist who offered her a seat. The receptionist must’ve noticed how terrified the older woman was, so after offering Crystal one of the jellybeans at her desk, she pulled out the chair from below her friend and dragged it to her. The receptionist’s friend hadn’t been offended, instead he had been watching Crystal with a look she could only describe as morbid fascination. It was the sort of wincing, unforgiving stare you’d give if you drove past a car crash. Which, in fairness, was exactly how Crystal felt. 

The reception was entirely empty aside from the trio. It was the main room of the massive building and, usually, had the hustle and bustle of New York in rush hour. Crystal didn’t find herself there much, unless she had an interview or was waiting on a source, but she remembered how claustrophobic it always felt. Now, even in the unbelievable peace of the room, it felt just as hard to breathe. 

Crystal hadn’t been surprised that the receptionist had to run and find her a chair. There wasn’t one nearby since usually there was no space or time for anyone to be sitting down. As soon as the receptionist had seen the dishevelled woman walk through, she’d fumbled around for a chair and a few wet wipes. Crystal had managed to clean up stray mascara and lipstick, but she was sure she still looked a mess. But Crystal had been dragged into work at six in the morning after a late night phone call and was instructed to wait for the manager in reception. Crystal, typically, flew under the radar aside from a few warnings about being late, but she knew today was different. When Crystal had been lost in her own thoughts, the two friends had been wondering whether or not they should start a conversation. They weren’t used to the silence and it unnerved them. They had decided to leave Crystal in peace, but the friend had a change of heart. She let her eyes watch the wall in front of her, completely unfocused, until eventually the receptionist’s friend tapped her on the shoulder.

“You’re Crystal, right?” he asked, despite the very obvious glare from the receptionist. 

Crystal nodded numbly. 

“My name’s Monet. I don’t do much around here, but in my defence neither does Cracker.” 

The man waved a dismissive hand to the receptionist. She put her middle finger up to him, blonde curls bouncing in anguish. It was funny for Crystal to watch the pair, and for a moment it made her forget about why she was there. 

“Monet,” asked Crystal with a raised eyebrow, “and Cracker?” 

“My name’s actually Bri, it’s just an affectionate nickname from Coffee Boy over there. But anyway, bitch, you can’t say shit, Miss Methyd.” 

For a moment, Crystal paused. How did they both know her name? She worked in a huge company, and she was sure she didn’t know half of the people working around her. While the two friends cackled, her own stomach began to sink. Obviously, they knew her name. She was sure everyone in the building knew her name now. Crystal’s face must’ve fallen, because both of the strangers softened. They exchanged a glance and silently decided Bri was the best choice to make her feel better. 

“Hey girl, I’m sorry. Must be a tough day for you,” Bri smiled gently. 

“I got fired once and they told me on our group chat. It can’t get much worse than that,” Monet said. 

Bri threw a handful of jellybeans at him, “She’s not getting fired you insensitive oil painting.”

When the phone at Bri’s desk began to ring, Crystal felt the familiar thud of her heart again. Her thumb picked at the other nails on her hand and Monet put a hand on her shoulder. Judging by the tense, strained expression on Bri’s face as she exchanged pleasantries on the phone, Crystal’s time was ticking away. Bri put the phone down and peeled herself from her desk chair. Crystal could see she was absolutely tiny; dressed in a hounds tooth pantsuit and comically large heels. Realistically, Crystal knew Bri must be older, but she looked like a young teenager. You wouldn’t guess she was friends with Monet when you saw the man’s ill-fitting jeans and shirt and with Crystal’s flats and leopard-print blouse. 

“The Boss wants to see you now. Just a warning-I heard voices. I think she’s got the whole Vogue Crew in there with her. Some of them are so lovely, but the rest would love to see you trip up. So, watch your mouth! Follow me, I’ll take you up now. Monet, make us all a coffee. I think we’ll need it.” 

Monet saluted her friend and gave Crystal a sympathetic smile before she dashed down the corridor and towards the small kitchen. Towering over Bri, she waited for the girl to show her the way. The reception desk guarded a door behind it. Crystal knew what lay on the other side, but she’d been lucky enough to never see for herself. The Fashion Editor, the Advertising Executive, the Editor and the Art Director all sat in their own offices, watching over their separate kingdoms from afar. They were like Goddesses to her, but she was glad she’d never met most of them. She was sure they were as ruthless as any other boss she’d had.

“The Los Angeles’ angels aren’t as bad as they sound,” reassured Bri as if she’d read Crystal’s mind, “but you’ve really got to prove yourself to them. Hundreds of people want your job, and they’ve probably been waiting outside the front doors ever since you got hired. You got this, girl.”

The door led to another straight, narrow corridor. There were four offices, each labelled with gold-plated signs on the door, and a final room dedicated to meetings. Crystal hesitated, wondering which door she was meant to stop at. Her boss was the Fashion Editor, but if Bri was right, then she was probably about to be confronted by all four of her superiors. Bri closed the door behind them and led Crystal down to the meeting room. The door was closed but they could both hear quiet murmuring from the other side of the door. 

“They’re waiting for you in there,” whispered Bri, “good luck. And for the record, I thought you did the right thing. I know I wouldn't be brave enough to do the same if I was in your position, but I'm glad you were.” 

Bri squeezed Crystal’s hand when she knocked three times on the wooden door. It was clear that she planned to ease drop and would probably bring Monet to listen when he returned. Normally, Crystal’s worst nightmare would be people listening to her getting fired, but now she was grateful for the comfort. At least Monet would have a coffee waiting for her when she was marched out of the building. With one last smile at Bri, Crystal heard the muffled welcome from the other side of the door and opened it. 

When she opened the door, her boss was standing on the other side of it. Adorning a Karina Boucle tweed set, complete with a white turtle neck and a Chanel belt to cinch her impressively small waist, stood Violet Chachki. Crystal would’ve laughed at the sparking purple lanyard around her neck if she wasn’t already in trouble. Today, she studied the frown on Violet’s face, the stress written all over it and the clenched fists. All Crystal could do was blush and give her a polite nod. 

“Good morning V-Miss Chachki.” 

“Can we hurry this along? I’ve got another meeting at seven and we’re already pushing it,” spoke the woman sitting on the left-hand side of the table. 

The room was as fancy as every other room in the building, with a long glass table and six grey arm chairs surrounding it. A large oval mirror hung on one wall and a white board on the other. The walls were painted a very pale pink and the floor was marbled, just like everything else Crystal walked by. 

Crystal finally dared to look up at the women who seemed right now to be her jury. She knew Violet well, as she worked under her personally, and knew the Editor was on her side. She felt bad that she’d stressed out the woman to the point of frown lines. Sitting in the seat Violet once occupied was a woman with short, curled blonde hair and dark, bushy eyebrows. Judging by the colourful suit and accessories even Crystal would be proud of, she knew this was Sasha Velour, the Art Director. There was another woman sitting next to Sasha, blonde bob and a chiselled face. She looked incredibly bored with the whole situation, but still managed to smile at Crystal. It was extremely appreciated. 

Opposite the two women sat the lady who’d spoken out earlier. She was drumming her long nails on the surface of the table, glaring daggers at Crystal. Her sleek, dark brown hair fell down her back and her eyeliner drawn as sharp as her expression. Crystal wasn’t sure who these two women were, other than their importance, and waited for Violet to introduce them. 

“Crystal, this is Miss Velour, our Art Director, Miss Taylor our Advertising Executive and our Fashion Director Miss Gemini.” 

“It’s good to meet you all.” 

Sasha and Trinity, introduced to her disdain as Miss Taylor, both insisted on the use of their first names. The other woman, Miss Gemini, didn’t offer Crystal the same privilege and instead looked up at Violet. 

“Do I still have to be here? You know my opinion on the matter, and I’ve got somewhere to be. It’s about the models for the September edition, if you must know, and I can’t afford to keep any of their managers waiting.” 

Crystal saw the fake smile plastered on Violet’s face, “Of course, Raja. Thank you for your time.” 

Raja didn’t give Crystal another glance as she pushed past her to get out of the door. When the door was open, she heard Raja yelling down the hall at Monet to get her a latte. He and Bri obviously hadn’t been far away. 

“Bitch. Apologies for her, Crystal, she thinks she’s the only one who works here,” said Violet, offering her Raja’s former seat. 

Crystal sat down and Violet sat beside her. For a moment, no one said a word. Trinity stared at Violet, willing her to speak, and Sasha just stared down at the table. Crystal, well, she wasn’t sure what she was doing. She hadn’t been able to sit still since she sat down and she just stared at the fire extinguisher in the corner of the room, willing something to set alight. Even herself, at this point. 

“Do you know why you’re here?” 

Crystal nodded, “I-I’ve heard there were some complaints about my television appearance.” 

“That’s it,” said Violet, “first things first, I’m going to talk you through the complaints made against you, okay?” 

Crystal nodded wordlessly, urging herself not to cry. 

Violet looked down at the paper work in front of her, “Crystal Methyd, Print Journalist for Tchotchke Magazine, Los Angeles Branch, has been accused of personal bias and aggressive behaviour during her interview with television personality Joey Thomas; which went live on Tuesday 22nd August. Methyd called Thomas a ‘bigot’, a ‘jerk’ and a ‘homophobe’ in a heated segment. The channel received many complaints and will no longer air anyone from Tchotchke until an apology is issued and justice is given.” 

Crystal hung her head in shame. 

“For the record, none of the things you said were wrong,” piped up Sasha, earning a glare from Violet. 

She felt tiny in that moment, but the one comment from Sasha had lifted her up slightly. It was easy to feel like the villain when you’d ruined your work’s reputation, but Sasha’s kind, understanding eased some of that guilt. It took Crystal a moment to remember the rumours going around about Sasha’s girlfriend. She was dating one of the models, she recalled, whose picture hangs on the wall. 

“We aren’t debating how wrong or right Crystal was,” snapped Violet, “what we need to decide is further steps. Now, Crystal, we’ve been discussing what to do for the past few days. We think we have a solution, but you will have to agree to it.” 

“So…I’m not getting fired?” 

“Not if you agree to the terms they’ve set,” pointed out Trinity. 

Violet reached out her hand. She placed it on top of Crystal’s. It was rare for the woman to show any kind of affection. The most Crystal had ever previously received was a lukewarm coffee on her birthday and the odd corporate Christmas card where Violet would put a kiss after her name. Crystal almost flinched away from the younger woman’s touch, but instead she just flashed her a teary smile. 

“What do I need to do?” 

“Do you know how I became Editor so young?” asked Violet gently, “Because I never said a word about my personal life. Every interview, radio appearance, book…it’s only about Tchotchke. The public will never know how old I am, what relationship I’m in or who my friends are. And that keeps me safe.” 

“But I already ruined that for myself.” 

“I’ve spoken with the Editor-in-Chief. And all the Directors, Editors and Executive in the building. We don’t want to fire you. You are an incredible journalist and your pieces are almost always my favourite. All the models and designers you interview beg me to let you do the next one. But this, this is a huge problem for our image.” 

“I understand,” whispered Crystal, finding no time to bask in the pride of Violet’s words. 

“We need you to issue a very public apology to Thomas-televised and live. Viewers need to see you two getting along.” 

“But he’s disgusting! He discredited everything I am! He told me a gay woman is ‘too delusional’ to understand politics, amongst other things.” 

Violet cringed, “I know. But it’s this…or you lose your job. Fuck, trust me I know this isn’t fair, but it’s orders from the Chief.” 

Trinity tried to smooth the conversation over by changing the subject, “You’ll need to network, go to a press conference, create a repour with Thomas. You don’t have to, of course, you can always quit. But it will be the death of your career as a journalist.” 

“I get it…I have to do some things I don’t want to if I want my job. I knew that. I-I’ll do it, but I don’t know how to be someone I’m not.” 

“If you agree, then we’ll have you work with our PR manager. She’ll organise everything and make sure you’re still in public favour. She’s the best in the business, you won’t have to worry about a thing. The Chief wants you to meet with her this afternoon and she can tell you her plans for the next few weeks,” explained Violet. 

“Yes, I’ll do it.” 

Violet raised an eyebrow, “You represent me. If you can’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll be in trouble too. And after everything I’ve done to avoid a scandal, I won’t be happy.” 

Sasha rolled her eyes affectionately, “You were doing so well, Violet.” 

“Sorry, Crystal. What I meant is, we’ll sort this out. Now, I’ll let the PR team know you want to work with them.” 

“This afternoon, right?” 

Violet nodded, “Just don’t do any more damage today and we’ll be fine. Make coffees, share someone’s paperwork…just stay out of trouble.” 

Crystal looked from Violet, to Trinity and then to Sasha. 

Rolling her eyes, Violet sighed, “You can go now. I’m not going to slap you or anything. You made a mistake, and I’m glad you’re going to fix it.” 

Crystal felt resentment burning at her boss’s comment. Was it really a mistake to call out a bigot? She’d never been one to cause any drama, and it was really out of character for her to struggle to talk to anyone, but she couldn’t help it. Thomas had known how to turn their interview into a personal attack. In the few days after the incident, Crystal had seen the comments. Now, she wasn’t just an activist. She’d become a prime lesbian suspect. It was true, obviously, but she hadn’t even told her parents. 

Almost forgetting to leave the room, Crystal pushed herself out of the chair and headed towards the door. She gulped, knowing the three of them were watching her every move. They could definitely see the tremble of her hands. She pushed the door open and glanced back. 

“Thank you.”

It was a collective ‘thank you’, and really Crystal wasn’t sure who she was addressing but it felt necessary. They all offered polite goodbyes. 

Crystal, emotionally exhausted, tried to walk past Bri and Monet. She wasn’t really in the mood to relay everything that had just happened, but she also wasn’t sure what had happened. She couldn’t believe she wasn’t being fired. She’d even put her things into boxes just in case the day before. Ready to collapse into an office chair and stare at her laptop screen, she internally groaned seeing the two friends ready to pounce on her from behind Bri’s desk. 

She didn’t have a chance to walk away because Bri reached out and grabbed her arm as she walked by. Crystal was dragged to the desk and stared into the four sets of shining, curious eyes. Monet shoved a cup of coffee into her hands and gestured for her to sit down behind the reception desk with them and tell all. The reception still wasn’t that busy, as it was still early, but Crystal felt uneasy about causing any more trouble. Their looks were desperate, though, so she walked around and perched in between Monet and Bri. She took a sip of much needed caffeine before placing it down next to four empty coffee cups. 

“I can’t believe they dragged all of them in,” breathed Bri. 

“When Raja stormed out earlier, I thought that was it for you,” confessed Monet. 

“Well, was it? Do we have to find you a new job?” asked Bri. 

“Let’s just say I don’t need you two handing out my resumé anytime soon.” 

The two friends hooted and cheered their co-worker’s success. 

“I do have to apologise to Thomas though. Like, a grand apology. I don’t know, I don’t like it, but at least I still have work!” 

“Yes girl!” 

“Are you going to work that Crystal charm on him?” asked Bri. 

“I don’t have charm,” she flushed, “but they’re bringing in the PR manager to help with my public image. That should help me out. I’m not very good at, like, not being really weird.” 

The cackle Bri let out was inhumane. It was something you’d hear in a haunted house at a circus or something. It threw Crystal off so much that she had to set her coffee down beside her feet so she didn’t spill it. Monet was holding his laugh in instead but finding it difficult with the wheezing coming from the receptionist. 

“What’s so funny?” asked Crystal, arms crossed over her chest. 

“You have to work with Gigi Goode? Well, Goode luck girl, because you’re gonna need it.”


	2. Public Relations

With a hesitant, shaky goodbye to Monet and Bri, Crystal walked very slowly back to her desk. She'd sat with them for a few hours, talking about all the usual things like siblings, pets and messiest nights out. She wished she'd met the two of them under better circumstances. It would be much more enjoyable to spend time with them when she wasn't an anxious wreck. On this floor of the building you'd find the staff room, IT department, Journalism department and the main offices, which she hoped she never had to visit again. Unfortunately, it meant she couldn’t dawdle to her department, since it would only take her less than two minutes to reach it. She contemplated getting another coffee, but she’d already had two today and didn’t want to be hyped on caffeine when she had her next meeting. Instead, she braced herself for whatever her co-workers had to say about her. 

There were glass doors separating the floor with the journalist department. Inside sat three rooms; ‘Print’, ‘Digital’ and ‘Meetings’. Crystal couldn’t hear any chatter from the other side of the ‘Print’ door, and she wondered if they had all been silently waiting for her to come and collect her things. She was grateful to find that, once inside, no one was that concerned with her appearance. None of them wanted to be the first one to ask if she was still employed or not. Even when the door squeaked loud enough for them all to hear, no one looked up.

Crystal shuffled towards her desk as silently as possible. Normally, she’d say hi to everyone and tell them about her morning but today she wanted to be invisible. It hurt her to think it, but she wasn’t sure how any of them felt about her now. Maybe some of them thought she did the wrong thing, like so many viewers. Maybe some of them liked the celebrity she insulted. Her mind raced with anxiety. With a miserable pout, she sat down in her chair and looked across her messy desk. There were boxes underneath it holding books, stationary and makeup. She picked up the spider plant from beside it and put it back triumphantly. She didn’t bother to unpack, instead she just took out a pen and notebook. 

Her co-worker gave her a look. 

“Writing an apology letter?” hummed Aquaria. 

Crystal shook her head. “Violet doesn’t want me to start any new projects. I think she wants to keep my head clear.” 

“If you wanna peer review my shit, I’d appreciate it. I don’t need Willam doodling dicks on it,” said Aquaria. 

Crystal nodded. Aquaria dumped a pile onto her desk. It took Crystal a lot of energy not to shove it back onto her co-worker’s desk, but she supposed at least this was mundane enough to keep her out of trouble, as Violet had requested. There were pieces that Aquaria had written, needing to be checked, consent forms to check over and ethics pages to sign. It wouldn’t take her all afternoon, but at least when it was finished she could go and sit with Bri and Monet. 

“Do you need to borrow a hair brush? If you put some lipstick on and fix that nest, you’ll feel much better about yourself.” 

As shallow as it sounded, Crystal knew Aquaria was right. So, before she got started on the work she’d been given, she rummaged amongst her stationary for the red lipstick she always heard rattling around. She knew a brush would only make the curls even frizzier, so she just tried to smooth them down with her hands. Looking for approval from Aquaria, the girl offered a swift nod. 

Aquaria, Crystal thought, was nice enough. She found the woman intimidating but she was always up for mindless games like truth or dare and hangman. The woman was one of the youngest of the journalists and got on well with Crystal, who was at least mentally her age. Aquaria did, however, like to distance herself from her co-workers. Crystal wasn’t surprised-her mother had been the Editor before Violet so everyone already had opinions on the famous daughter. It seemed like Aquaria wasn’t too thrown off by the constant comparisons and instead used it as an opportunity to get herself known. Which meant, to Crystal’s dismay, she would usually only play games before lunch. 

Willam, whose desk faced Aquaria’s, was the complete opposite. His whole premise was that, as long as he didn’t stand in the spotlight, he wouldn’t get fired. Like Crystal, he didn’t demand opportunities and worked with what he was given. Well, he often didn’t do the work he was given, but somehow no one noticed. Now, the man was sitting cross-legged on his chair, throwing jibes around the room until someone bit. 

Crystal sat next to Aquaria but there was a woman with short, dark hair along from her. Jackie had long, dark hair and thick glasses, often falling down her nose. With a mixture of cardigans and slogan t-shirts in her wardrobe, it wasn’t a shock when she’d joined and become Willam’s favourite victim. Jan had taken the seat opposite Jackie when she’d joined several months later. Her work ethic was on par with Aquaria’s but, in Crystal’s opinion, her enthusiasm gave her the edge. It certainly battled Willam’s pessimism and made Jackie a less accessible target. Crystal lay back in her chair, half-way through Aquaria’s paper work, watching the latest scene unfold. 

“Jackie,” Willam said slowly, “even Iran has Vogue. There’s no excuse for you to think it’s okay to wear that.” 

“I was born in Canada,” grumbled Jackie. 

“Vogue Arabia is gorgeous,” piped up Jan, “I collect copies and it’s honestly one of my favourites.” 

Willam groaned, loudly and dramatically. It dragged on long enough to hurt Crystal’s ears. 

“Why did the Chief even hire you? You ruin everything.” 

Jan was unaffected by Willam’s disdain, as she usually was, and had already turned to ask Jackie what she was doing. Though they had two functioning desks, they usually shared one to do their work. Crystal had no idea how they’d become such good friends. The journalists very rarely worked together, and when they did it was usually with a model, designer or photographer. 

“Crystal,” sighed Aquaria, “I’ve finished my bit already. How’s yours coming on?” 

She’d pretty much completely forgotten about the paper in front of her. She'd almost gotten through it, but it took double the time it should've with her daydreaming. It became apparent though, that the other journalists had forgotten Crystal was there. Thanks to Aquaria, that wasn’t the case anymore. 

“What happened?” Jackie asked softly, “Glad you’re still here.” 

“I saw the story in the news and I couldn’t believe they were even considering firing you,” said Jan with a fiery, stern expression, “Imagine the outrage if you lost your job because you stood up for something you cared about! We would’ve walked out for sure! Like, we’d sit in the street until they let you come back.” 

“Crystal,” came Willam with a wicked grin, “our resident homosexual. Did Violet decide she couldn’t fire you because it would be discrimination?” 

“She’s not gay,” argued Aquaria, and Crystal decided it would be best not to correct her. 

“Well, how is she still here then?” he countered. 

“I’m getting personality lessons with Gigi Goode,” explained Crystal, earning a surprised snort from Willam. 

“I had a meeting with her when I was in the news for doing a shot out of that Australian model’s bellybutton. She took one look at me, called Violet, and told her to fire me. Lucky for me we were understaffed right before our fashion show, or I’d be outta here,” he explained. 

“I tell Violet to fire you every day, but you’re still here,” added Aquaria. 

“Mummy wouldn’t pay out for my redundancy?” 

Aquaria’s nostrils flared. 

“I finished the paper work,” squeaked Crystal. 

She gathered up the papers and placed them carefully over Aquaria’s. The other woman forgot about arguing with Willam and shuffled through what Crystal had written to make sure it was correct. Crystal didn't have much else to do, so she focused on reorganising her desk again. Part of her felt like it was bad luck, but she needed something to keep herself occupied. She emptied the boxes and put her stationary neatly on the desk in front of her. It didn't really make her feel any better. 

Crystal rested her head in her hand and her elbow on the table, staring out of the large window behind Aquaria. It had finally stopped raining, she noticed, but the sun wasn’t shining yet. The dark clouds still threatened the streets outside. Crystal realised, probably ten minutes later, that Aquaria had stopped writing. Her pen still dangled in her hand, and Crystal’s handiwork was still on her desk, but Aquaria seemed to be as out of it as she had been. Crystal looked behind her. 

Bri hovered in the doorway, second guessing whether or not she needed to knock. Crystal only noticed her when she caught Aquaria staring out of the corner of her eye. The receptionist seemed relieved to find her and waved in Crystal’s direction. 

“Violet wants me to take you down to Gigi. Or Miss Goode, as she’ll make you call her.” 

Crystal began to sweat, “What, now?” 

Bri rolled her eyes, “No, yesterday girl! Now come on.” 

The shouting had obviously drawn the attention of the others in the room, and they watched the receptionist. Bri was oblivious to the glances and just tapped comically at her wrist to tell Crystal her time was up. Crystal didn’t like the way Willam looked between Aquaria and Bri, his eyes glittering. Willam leaned into Aquaria’s view, blocking her from watching the door. 

“She looks just like you, girl,” snorted Willam, who had been leaning on two legs of his chair and waiting eagerly for some sort of drama to unfold. He’d obviously been hoping Crystal would bring some of that, but he took what he could get. 

Aquaria shrugged, “Yeah, if I was child sized.” 

Crystal cast a glance to Bri. The girl had definitely heard the comment, but just paused at the door to wait for her. She didn’t make eye contact with Aquaria, and Crystal felt a pang of sympathy for her. The rest of the room were stifling their laughter, but their amusement was evident. Crystal walked up to Bri, ready to offer support in case she needed it. She was sure Bri wasn't as accustomed to Willam as she was.

“Sorry,” whispered Crystal. 

Bri shrugged, “Don’t be. She does it all the time. She’s trying to pretend she doesn’t experience extreme and uncomfortable arousal when I’m around her.” 

Bri said the last bit of her speech way too loudly, so that everyone could hear over the sounds of their laughing and chatting. Crystal did notice the flustered expression on Aquaria’s face, but she recovered smoothly with a smirk. 

“In your dreams, pipsqueak.” 

Just as Bri was leading Crystal away, she called out, “Oh, you know it, gorgeous.” 

With the air of someone who had just won a battle, Bri turned on her heels and began to drag Crystal out of the room. She finally cracked a smile when she was sure the others couldn’t see. 

Crystal, not wanting to pry, said, “You don’t normally escort people to meetings. I mean, I’d only ever seen you a few times before today. Is there something you’re not telling me?” 

A few rooms down there was a set of stairs leading to the floor below. The ‘Authorised Personnel Only’ sign on the bannister made Crystal wonder why this is the part of the building Violet didn’t want people in. Even though she worked there, she still felt weird about climbing down the steps. 

“I just really, really wanted to see what Gigi is going to make of you. Also, I felt like you deserved a run-down. Well, Monet said that, but he was too busy to do it. So, here we go. Are you ready?” 

Bri led Crystal down the corridor to an area Crystal had never been to before. She knew it was a different department and therefore she’d never really had a reason to go there before. Almost all of the doors were closed and they were labelled with things like ‘Advertising’ and ‘Product Design’. This must be Trinity’s domain. She knew why Violet didn’t want people down here; it looked like the resting place of ideas. Not Violet’s own, so they weren’t that important, but Crystal knew Tchotchke’s brand was down here, and Violet did care a lot about that. It was a lot quieter than the chaos in her own department, and Crystal couldn’t help but find it lack of noise eerie. 

“Okay. Gigi Goode keeps herself to herself. She has a PR team but they’re basically her minions. She works for the Editor-in-Chief only…unless someone fucks up big, like you bitch. Obviously, I see her a lot because she doesn’t like to run around so I do it for her. She’ll look down on you like you’re under her shoe, she’ll insist she can fix your problem without you and she’ll tell you many times that she wishes you just got fired. But, girl, take it all on the chin because she really is good at her job. I wish I could tell you she sucks but she’s the best I’ve ever seen. Any model whose had a scandal or a leak…she gets it forgotten about in an hour. It’s genius, really.” 

“You aren’t making me feel any better,” groaned Crystal.

“Bitch, I’m being helpful! You thought the hard part was going to be this morning, but Violet doesn’t want the controversy of firing you. No, no…the hard part is going to be convincing Gigi Goode that you’re worth saving.”

As much as Crystal enjoyed Bri’s company, she really did nothing to ease her anxiety. It was like talking to a miniature, anxious version of herself. Bri seemed to notice this, along with the frown on Crystal’s face, because she began to walk a pace in front. 

The room right at the end of the corridor had the plaque on the front that Crystal was dreading; ‘Public Relations’. 

“You’re not going to leave me, are you?”

Bri scoffed, “I did not walk all this way to not see this with my own goddamn eyes.” 

It felt like the corridor in horror films where you know there’s a murderer at the end of it, but the victim still walks down it. Crystal can think of many times where she’d sat in front of the television, screaming at the stupid character who thought the locked door at the end of the dark hallway would be a good hiding place. Now, that was her. She was the ditsy blonde wandering into the murder room. Crystal wasn’t sure where her analogy was going, as she never really did, but she did know that her time was up. 

“Does Gigi have the right to fire me?” 

Bri looked conflicted, “Well, Violet will listen to her. If she says you need to go, then you will. But her job is to make you look good. I don’t think she’d put her reputation on the line just because she doesn’t like you.” 

Very slightly reassured by Bri’s words, Crystal pressed a hesitant hand on the ‘Public Relations’ door. Bri, tired of waiting for her new friend, slammed her knuckled three times against the door before pulling it open for herself. She still let Crystal walk in first, to make a good impression, but she followed close behind. 

The PR manager had been pacing around the room, which was pretty much identical to the ‘Print’ room, which Crystal basically lived in. It was empty except for Gigi. She’d obviously told the rest of the team to give them space. Gigi stopped when she’d heard the two of them approach and faced them, arms crossed over her chest. Crystal wanted the ground to swallow her whole when she saw the PR manager dragging her eyes across all of Crystal’s body, taking absolutely everything in. 

Gigi Goode wasn’t real. Crystal was convinced that Violet had hired some supermodel to fuck with her. Her black hair rested just above her shoulders in tight, controlled curls with a fringe that swept just above one of her arched eyebrows. Her eyes glittered with gold and black, with sharp winged eyeliner and long eyelashes. Her cheeks were rosy and bronzed and her lips were glossed and overlined. She had the slender, tall body of those models too, Crystal would know, she’d interviewed enough of them. Gigi was a few inches taller than her, Crystal decided, but she wore tall red heels that made her tower above the journalist. She wore a black blazer like it was a dress, pulled together with a Louis Vuitton belt. It definitely wasn’t what Crystal would expect a manager to wear but after seeing Gigi, now she couldn’t imagine anything different. 

Crystal reached out a hand for Gigi to shake. Looking down at her messy nails and mix-matched rings, she caught a glimpse of Gigi’s perfect white manicure and designer rings. It didn’t surprise her when Gigi ignored her out-stretched hand. 

“You can go now,” Gigi said, one eyebrow raised. 

Crystal thought back to what Willam had said. Maybe Gigi had already decided Crystal wasn’t worth the effort and was going to call Violet about her. Crystal knew she wasn’t one of the composed, graceful journalists in the building, but she was a favourite of the company regardless. With a defeated look at Bri, Crystal began to turn on her heels. That was, until Gigi reached out and grabbed Crystal’s wrist. 

“Not you,” Gigi rolled her eyes and Crystal flushed. 

“Oh, of course.”

“Crystal Methyd, I assume? My name is Gigi Goode, don’t call me Georgina, I’m the head of the PR team here. I’ve been made aware of the accusations and complaints made against you, but I still need to ask you some questions.” 

Crystal’s eyes were wide, but she nodded. She knew there probably wouldn’t be any small talk, but she hadn’t expected to jump right in. 

“Ask away, I’m clearly an open book,” she joked, trying to get Gigi to crack a smile. Gigi didn’t humour her. 

“Take a seat.” 

They sat on a desk opposite each other and Crystal stared down at it until Gigi asked her questions. 

“Ignoring the public, you’ve been called out for a media bias. They say that, as someone who is representing a non-political organisation, you shouldn’t let personal opinion interfere with what you’re saying. Normally you could get away with this, but Thomas is a widely loved figure. He’s like Trump; he says what he thinks and the public care more about this honesty than they do morals. This man represents the right to hate, and you’ve made yourself a figure for everything his fans' hate.”  
“That wasn’t a question,” Crystal said weakly. 

“What I’m asking is; are you prepared to back down? This man hasn’t stopped tweeting about you, will you resist a fight?” 

“Yeah, I don’t like conflict anyways.” 

“Good. So, obviously you know the first thing you’ll have to do is apologise to him. But I don’t want you to do a press talk yet, I think it’s too soon and it’ll just look false. My advice would be to add him on social media, apologise on twitter, ask for a meeting and get it trending.” 

“Will you help me write it?” 

Gigi looked irritated, “Yes, obviously.” 

Crystal took her phone out of her pocket. She’d honestly been avoiding looking at it for the past few days. She’d logged out of Instagram and Facebook as soon as she’d left the interview. Twitter had taken a little while longer, but as soon as she saw her name trending she decided it would be best to log out of that too. With a gulp, she logged back into Twitter. Her name, and the company’s was still trending. 

There were a range of tweets, such as ‘Finally!!! Someone had to do it’ and ‘I didn’t think Crystal had it in her!’ Her feed was flooded with supportive messages, but she couldn’t help but glance at the hate. And there was a lot of it. She’d lost almost two hundred followers too. 

“It’s not too bad,” said Gigi, “I’ve already looked through most of it.” 

“It’s just weeding out the shitty followers, right? Like natural selection,” Crystal’s second attempt at humour failed as miserably as the first. 

“I have another question.” 

“Shoot.” 

“Are you gay?” 

Crystal’s heart plummeted. Why was Gigi asking her that? And why wasn’t she ready to admit the truth? 

“Why do you need to know?” 

“I need to know how personal this is going to be for you,” explained Gigi, but the look in the woman’s eyes told Crystal that she’d already made up her mind, and the journalist didn’t need to answer. 

Crystal and Gigi went through ten drafts of her apology tweet before they finally decided it was good enough. It was difficult, since there was no sincerity in her words, but Gigi insisted it was all business. Tagging Thomas, she sent off the tweet and turned her notifications on, waiting for a response immediately. The tweet was rapidly gaining fame but Thomas hadn’t seen it several long minutes later. Then, when they were well past the ten minute mark, he liked it. 

“Well, what does that mean? He hasn’t commented or messaged me,” panicked Crystal. 

Gigi looked less concerned, “The ball’s in his court now. If he ignores you, he’ll miss out on the publicity. His team are probably just deciding how they should play it.” 

“So, what do I do now?” 

“Get some friends and go out. Watch a movie or go have dinner, anything. But make sure someone sees you. You have to make them remember how fun you are. Right now, they’re blinded by the drama, but go smile and take some pictures. We can’t do much else until he replies.” 

Gigi passed the phone back to Crystal and stood up. Crystal wasn’t really sure what to do, but she got up anyway. Her legs were shaking less than they had been before, which was at least some good news. Crystal had been stupid to hope that Gigi would fix her problems in one sitting. She supposed it was better than the alternative-Gigi fires her on the spot. 

“Do you want me to leave now?” 

Gigi sighed, “Yes. I’ll be in touch.” 

“Thank you,” said Crystal, not waiting for the response she knew she wouldn’t get. She let the door swing shut behind her before she felt comfortable enough to breathe. She leaned against the wall to steady herself and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

“I hear Doctor Goode prescribed a girl’s night!” 

Crystal gasped, though she supposed it was actually more of a yelp, at the loud voice that went ringing through her ears. Heart lurching, she threw open her eyes to find Bri and Monet standing either side of her, a grin on each of their faces. Crystal tried to argue, especially since they were only half-way through their shifts, but Monet reached into his back pocket, held up a hip flask, and tapped his nose. 

“See you at five sharp, bitch.”


	3. The Ladies Room

“You know how some offices have, like, fish to keep morale up? Like, they say ‘Oh we would love to give you a raise but instead we’re going to put this big ass fish tank in the staff room so you can look at them when you cry’. That’s what you are. You’re the fish.” 

Willam, who to his credit had actually begun to do some of his research despite it being late in the afternoon, was glaring daggers at Jan.

Jan put her hands up in defence, “I just asked what everyone was doing tonight.” 

“It’s Monday, Jan, what do you expect people to be doing?” asked Willam. 

“It doesn’t have to be anything exciting,” pouted Jan, “just wanted to know. I’ll probably finish watching Stranger Things, Jackie says it’s worth it.” 

Jackie said, “Oh, it is!” at the same time as Willam said, “Literally no one cares.” 

“I liked it,” Crystal decided to join in, “you should watch Twin Peaks after. It’s one of my favourites.” 

“God,” cried Jan, “there’s too much! How am I meant to watch it all? Jackie prefers reading but like, I love the drama of watching something.” 

Willam seemed a shell of himself as he listened in to the conversation around him which had now engulfed the room. His agony at the boring topic only encouraged Crystal and she was pretty sure she’d never spoken this long to her co-workers before. 

Not ten minutes later, Aquaria came sauntering into the room, a small expensive handbag slung over her shoulder. The woman had disappeared a little while ago, leaving Crystal with absolutely nothing to do. She’d told Crystal that she wasn’t her babysitter and that she should find something to keep herself occupied. Crystal had spent hours trying to download Sims on the work computers. Aquaria, who’d now be forced to talk to her, went and hung her bag from the chair and sat down without a sound, her entrance lost to the jungle of laughter and chattering in the room. Crystal was never sure how small a group was able to conjure so much noise. 

“Where’ve you been?” asked Crystal when Aquaria noticed her looking. 

“I had to get Raja’s review on the piece you were looking at. Raja wants Asia’s article to have the double spread. I get it, ‘Showcasing Racism on the Runway: Black People Walk but Don’t Get to Talk’ is gonna be badass. She said I could have the next big feature, so that’s cool.” 

Jackie threw an excited ‘congratulations’ to Aquaria, which Crystal and Jan followed. Aquaria blushed and settled at her desk. For a moment Crystal went back to listening to the rest of the room, mainly Willam, but then Aquaria tapped her shoulder. 

“Weren’t you expected to do a big piece for October’s issue too?” 

Crystal cast her eyes down to her desk, “I was supposed to do the big interview with the model on the cover. I think I’ll get started on it soon, ‘cause you never know what’ll be happening by then. But Violet will probably give it to one of you, as payback.” 

“If I got it I’d give it to you anyway,” Jackie smiled. 

“And that’s why you’re stuck writing about our sponsors,” scoffed Willam. 

Before Jackie, or Jan, retaliated, Aquaria gave a slight gasp and turned to look at Crystal. 

“I forgot,” she announced, “the tiny receptionist begged me to tell you to meet her later. Be at her desk at five, I think she said.” 

“Have you made a friend Crystal? I’m not surprised you chose Cracker, she’s pretty much as weird as you. Y’all are muppets” said Willam. 

“Did Courtney ever text you back, Willam?” chimed in Aquaria, bringing up the model that Willam risked his career for. Judging by the way Willam’s face dropped, it was still a sore and sensitive subject for him. 

Crystal vaguely remembered the incident. It had happened at a New Year’s party a few years ago. The two blondes had gotten along well, but they’d been photographed getting too cosy. Not much had come from it, despite Violet thinking it was going to be a disaster, because the model had made it into a joke about how she was ‘entering the new year with low standards, because they can only go up from here’. For someone with an ego as big as Willam’s, he was heartbroken. Crystal had never known the woman’s name before. By the grimace Willam was adorning, she thought he had been trying to forget as well. 

“Sounds like you’ve got an interesting evening planned,” said Jan, eager to minimise the tension in the room that she so desperately hated.

“Gigi wants me to get out. You know, show the public my dance moves to distract them from the interview.” 

Jan laughed, “That dancing will have a disciplinary meeting all of its own.” 

A laugh erupted from Crystal, “I cannot believe you chose me to throw your first shade at.” 

Jackie looked exasperated, “She’s been doing it for years! You should see the memes she makes about us. Dark horse, that one.” 

“You would know,” said Willam, causing each woman to blush in turn. 

“So, Crystal, did Violet tell you who the model was going to be?” asked Jan. 

“I’m not sure. You know Shea, right? July’s cover model? Violet’s put her in charge of it. Apparently, she wants to run some audition to see who she likes. Wants me to go and see who I get along with. Well, she probably won’t anymore.” 

Aquaria shook her head, “You were the one who picked Shea, weren’t you? I think she knows you’re the best person for the job.” 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Shea throws a full on gala for all the models. With a runway and an open bar and glitter! Oh! Crystal you have to make her do that! We can have lights and music and food,” gushed Jan. 

Jan hadn’t finished there, and she’d gone on for a long time about the details of Shea’s gala as she planned it for herself. She’d given everyone a role, telling them in excruciating detail what they would be doing. 

Crystal had tried hard to listen, but instead she pulled up her laptop and flicked through the dregs of research she’d written up. Her main project would be the celebrity interview, and if she didn’t have a model to base her questions on, she didn’t have a lot to work on. Not that Violet even wanted her to do anything, but Crystal wanted to redeem herself. So, she stared blankly at the screen in front of her until the clock ticked forward, slowly but surely. Each minute was excruciating and time moved so slightly that Crystal was convinced she was in some sort of parallel universe. By the time it had actually taken to reach five, Crystal had completely zoned out and not even realised. 

“It’s five ladies,” said Aquaria, purposefully including Willam in her sentiments, “I’ll see you all tomorrow.” 

“Don’t get too fucked tonight, Crystal,” said Willam, “on second thoughts, do, it’ll help you unwind.” 

“I’d ask you to come but there’s an Australian night next week so we’ll wait.” 

Aquaria nodded at Crystal like she was her student and grinned, “Beautifully put.” 

Willam grumbled and paused at the door, “It’s sad that you’ve all collectively got one joke.” 

He left them with one graceful middle finger before following Jackie and Jan out of the room, who had both been sharing lifts since they first started. Aquaria gathered her things but she seemed to be going slowly, as if waiting for Crystal. Now self-conscious, Crystal gathered her own belongings and put them in her pockets. Just before she left she looked up at Aquaria expectantly. 

Aquaria cleared her throat, “I watched the interview you did with my mom. We both thought you did the right thing. She said she would’ve done the same. I mean, the Chief’s all for strong women, but only strong women who do as he says. That’s just office politics, no one thinks you made a mistake.” 

“Thank you,” Crystal managed to choke out. 

“Don’t tell anyone I said that,” she added, before walking briskly out of the room. 

Crystal wished Aquaria’s mom was still working for the company. It would be nice for her to have someone who was on her side. She supposed Violet, Trinity and Sasha were, but Crystal didn’t blame them for caring about their jobs more than hers. It was only fair. Gigi, she still wasn’t sure about. She still had to work that one out. Her thoughts had meant she almost forgot to say goodbye to Aquaria but shouted it just in time to hear a muffled response back. 

She’d almost forgotten, with everything that had kept her busy that afternoon, that she was going out tonight for a reason. Whatever she ended up doing, she had to make sure she didn’t make it worse for herself. Her mind imagined Gigi had expected her to go out and have dinner, but Crystal was sure Bri and Monet had other ideas. She wasn’t opposed to drinking to forget, but she knew how careful she had to be.

When she’d pushed open the glass door of her department, and headed down the hallway, she could see the reception desk ahead of her. It was too far away for her to hear the cackling coming from it, and people walking nearby to leave for the day helped to block that sound. Some of them sped past the reception desk and others paused to say goodbye to Bri. Normally, when Crystal left for the day, Bri would be elsewhere, probably helping Violet prepare for the following morning. Today, though, she was sat eagerly in her chair, Monet leaning on the desk in front. 

They both leapt to their feet when they saw the girl approaching. Crystal hadn’t realised both Monet and Bri would’ve changed, and probably had a drink each, in the time it took her to walk over to them. 

Crystal was caught off guard when Bri almost fell into her arms in excitement. It was obvious now how much younger Bri was, Crystal thought. She still had the style of someone fresh out of school, clubbing every day at University. Her black bralette top and matching skirt seemed understated for the woman, but she paired it with a massive, fluffy pink coat. She’d also added thicker eyeliner and a dark lipstick. Monet was also wearing new clothes and had opted for a pair of ripped jeans and a pale blue shirt. 

“When did you have time to change? We literally finished work two minutes ago.” 

“You did. Cracker and I finished pretty much right after lunch.” 

Bri nodded in agreement, “I took you to your meeting and that was the last thing I did today. The phone kept ringing and I was like, ‘not today girl’. I didn’t need some phone call to bring down the mood. I’ve been buzzing since I left you.” 

“I didn’t bring a change of clothes,” said Crystal, looking down at her choice of outfit for the day. 

“I love the trousers, no need to change them. I’ve got a spare top you can borrow,” explained Bri, nodding in the direction of her handbag. 

“How many outfit changes do you do in one day?” 

Monet sighed, “Girl. Don’t ask.” 

“Stop talking about me! I don’t say that often, but we don’t have time!” shouted Bri. Monet, who’d been lumbered with the bag, reached into it and found a crumpled white cropped top. As cold as Crystal felt already, she knew she couldn’t wear her blouse out. Bri glanced comically around her before deciding that the bathroom would be the best option for them. 

“None of us are successful enough to have an office so we’ll have to change in the toilet,” announced Bri. 

She grabbed Crystal and dragged her towards the toilets. Monet complained, following them to the door, but he was ultimately left outside. Bri was distracted by the mirror before even thinking about clothes, so Crystal looked too. It was the first time Crystal had seen her reflection in a big, properly lit mirror, and she was as disappointed as she thought she would be. It wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined in her head, but it was still bad. Her lipstick had already smudged, her eyeliner had too and she didn’t even want to talk about her hair. 

“I can’t go out like this.”

“Don’t be a baby,” scoffed Bri, taking a bit of tissue and guiding it under Crystal’s eyes and mouth. Soon, the stray makeup had been smoothened out and her face looked as fresh as it had before the rain. 

Crystal, without much concern for modesty, just turned her back on Bri, pulled off her blouse and put the crop top on instead. The outline of her red bra could be seen underneath but, she figured, at least it matched her trousers. The top, which had probably been less tight and cropped on Bri, suited her nicely. She whipped around, hands gesturing to show off her new outfit, and Bri clapped her hands in approval. But, then, Crystal caught her reflection again. 

“And my hair?” Crystal prompted.

“Can’t do miracles,” shrugged Bri, but laughed when Crystal’s face dropped, “I’m only kidding. I keep straighteners under my desk, like every woman should. I shoved them in my bag ‘cause I knew you’d need it. Monet-where’s my bag?” 

Monet’s muffled voice came from the other side of the bathroom door. Bri strained to hear what he was saying. She yelled to him and it went back and forth until the two women heard a lengthy grumble. They hadn’t heard a word he’d said but they both heard when the bag in question slammed against the door. He’d thrown it, upset that he had to stand outside and miss out on all of the gossip. 

“Be careful with that,” squeaked Bri, running over to the door with a flushed, worried expression. 

She swung it open to reveal Monet on the other side, and the bag slumped on the floor. Some pens, hair grips and a bottle of nail polish had spilled out of it. Bri collapsed to the floor in a dramatic fall and clutched at her belongings. 

“You suck,” she mumbled, unwinding the straighteners she’d found at the bottom of the handbag. 

“You know there’s gender neutral toilets downstairs? Can’t we go there instead?” 

Bri tutted, “Those toilets are to make our gender neutral friends feel safe, not so your fat ass can get in on some girly gossip.” 

With that, she left the bag on the floor, stuffing Crystal’s shirt in there too, and closed the door on Monet. She ran around the bathroom like she was running for something, desperately looking for a free plug. When she’d found one, tucked underneath an electrical hand dryer, Bri plugged in the straighteners and instructed Crystal to sit down on the edge of the sink. She did, her nose an inch away from the mirror, so Bri could fumble with the straighteners and fix her hair. 

Bri took the first stands of Crystal’s hair into her hands, putting her fingertip on the straighteners to check when it was hot enough. When it finally was, she clamped onto frizzy red curls. 

“So,” began Bri in a sing-song voice, “what did you make of the infamous Gigi Goode?” 

Crystal could hear the gentle sizzling of Bri burning her hair. A few words formed in her head, but for some reason she didn’t say them. 

“I think she means business.” 

“Yeah but I mean, what do you think?” 

“We didn’t really have time to get to know each other. It was, like, in and out.” 

“You’re not gonna deny that she’s damn gorgeous, are you? First time I met her I said, ‘Oh do you want me to call someone?’ ‘cause I thought she was a model and she just stared me down like, ‘bitch I can have you fired’. It was so embarrassing.” 

“Everyone here’s beautiful,” Crystal shrugged. 

“I know, but she’s something else, don’t you think?” 

Crystal felt a weird, aching feeling in her chest. She had no idea where it had come from, but she knew it started when Bri started to gush about Gigi. The way the younger woman described Gigi’s lips, eyes, hair and body was almost poetic. Crystal felt like she was listening to Enobarbus talk about Cleopatra-as if Gigi was made from solid gold. 

“So…you like her, then?” Crystal asked cautiously. 

“Oh, no,” laughed Bri, “I could say the exact same stuff about Monet. As much as I enjoy being treated like shit in a relationship, that would just be too much for me.” 

Crystal eventually braved a glance in the mirror. She saw Bri attacking the top layer of her hair, tongue poking in the corner of her mouth in concentration. Crystal had to admit; she loved it. She didn’t have much time to straighten it normally, and she hadn’t realised how long it was. It looked sleek, not frizzy, for the first time in a long time. 

“Nearly done,” said Bri distractedly, “do you like it?” 

“Love it,” nodded Crystal. 

She really did. It made her look more like Aquaria, like Violet and Gigi. It was a shame she hadn’t let Bri do it in the morning, so she could’ve made a better impression on everyone. Still, maybe the press would get some nice pictures of her. 

When Bri had finished, she brushed a hand through Crystal’s hair to smoothen it before she unplugged the straighteners. She blew on them to cool them down, which was ineffective, and gestured for Crystal to jump down from the counter. To Bri’s delight, Crystal grinned and spun around. 

“Do you finally feel ready for a night out?” asked Bri. 

“You know what, I kinda do!” 

“I hope you’re not the kind of drunk who cries all the time. Monet likes to climb onto tables and that’s bad enough to deal with.” 

Crystal had almost forgotten that she’d known these women for a day, and yet they’d already been nicer to her than most people in the company. For a second, she had the horrible thought that the two of them didn’t need to keep their distance from Crystal because there was no competition between them. Bri and Monet came to work knowing their day would end when they went home. Crystal wished she could say the same. It reminded her that she didn’t have many friends outside of work, though maybe she needed some. Especially now. 

Bri, who’d thought her comment would at least warrant a laugh, was now looking at Crystal in concern. Crystal blinked a few times as if that would clear her head. 

“I understand if you’re nervous,” Bri said softly, “but just remember that you haven’t done anything wrong girl. You’re allowed to go out and have fun, and I think that’s exactly what Gigi wanted. She doesn’t care about the public seeing you, I think she just wanted you to convince yourself that everything’s fine.” 

Crystal hid the smile that crept up, “Do you really think she’d care that much about me? Like, she’s just doing her job.” 

“Gigi is like Violet; no one really knows much about her. Those are usually the best kind of people. I mean, look at me, everyone knows everything about me and I’m a complete asshole.” 

Crystal laughed, “Not true! An asshole would’ve just let me go out looking like I did 20 minutes ago.” 

Ruining the moment, the door of the bathroom swung open with a violent, loud crash and both Bri and Crystal turned towards it in a panic. It slammed against the wall with an almighty noise and Crystal knew the cleaners would be frozen in fear wherever they were right now. They’d definitely heard it-everyone would have. They were scared that someone was coming to throw them out, but instead they found Monet, fuming, on the other side. 

“Ladies,” Monet screamed, “are you fucking ready yet? It’s going to be time to clock in again before we make it out of this damn building.” 

“Get out!” 

Monet turned to look at Bri, who was covering herself up as if she were naked, “I have been waiting outside this toilet like a goddamn pervert for hours now, we’re leaving whether you’re ready or not!” 

“We will continue our conversation over tequila tonight,” said Bri, chasing after Monet before he exploded. Crystal followed closely after, picking up the straighteners Bri had forgotten and shoving them into Bri’s bag. 

“Oh,” chuckled Monet, “I’m so on tequila! By the way, I already booked the cab so you two are paying for it.” 

Walking past the reception desk, in the silence of the room, Crystal could’ve sworn she heard Violet, Trinity, Raja and Sasha speaking on the other side of the door. Even though it was muffled, it must’ve been a heated conversation for it to ring out so clearly. Monet, still listening to whatever Bri was spewing, had obviously heard it too as he gave Crystal’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Crystal distanced herself from the conversation, willing herself not to cry as she imagined what the women were discussing. It had to be about her, didn’t it? She wondered if Gigi was in the secret meeting too, telling the others about how hopeless she thought the journalist was. 

“They usually meet at the end of our shifts,” reassured Bri, “I normally hear Raja screaming about some bitch in her department. I’m surprised she has anyone left to supervise, the amount of complaining she does. I don’t think Violet takes it very seriously, I mean Raja would pick a fight with the sun if she could.” 

“Ah,” said Monet wisely, “spoken like someone who has never been on a company picnic.”

The three of them walked out of the building, into the fresh evening air, where it was only just beginning to darken. The stars weren’t out yet, and there was still a faint hue of orange from the setting sun. In the cab, Monet demanded that the driver played the liveliest, loudest playlist he could find and Crystal pretended the vibrations of the base made her feel anything other than nauseous.


	4. Heavens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thanks so much for reading so far! There's a lot squeezed into this chapter and it's stupidly long but I hope you like it anyway! Let me know

“They have a karaoke night here,” Monet was saying, “it was started by my friend a little while back. It’s on the weekend, if you like it here you should come.” 

The streets were reasonably empty, with only the few barely dressed groups on their way to drink. There was an occasional business man or woman leaving their office and looking very out-of-place. Crystal sided with them, though. She didn’t understand why Monday was a popular night out. She supposed it made sense for students, but she was an adult. Still, the mood of the night had made her forget how ridiculous it was. 

“I can imagine you singing some 80s hit and dominating,” agreed Bri. 

“Oh, I can’t sing. Like, at all. But does that mean we’re going to a bar? Like, a karaoke bar?” 

“Sort of. I mean, we’re here now anyway, so you’ll see for yourself,” grinned Monet. 

Crystal’s care-free smile faltered slightly when she decided to take in her surroundings. She’d had a few swigs from Monet’s flask and had completely forgotten to look where she was going. Her breath hitched when she caught a blurry sight of rainbow bunting strung up with lights and various pride posters tapped to blacked-out windows. Cheesy music thumped and crashed through the doors of the bar and streamed out when people stumbled out for a smoke. There was a sparkling sign above the door, seemingly hand-painted, which read ‘Heavens’. 

A hot, panicked flush spread rapidly across Crystal’s chest, then up her neck and cheeks. Beads of sweat formed on her temples and it took everything she had for her to level her breathing. 

“I can’t be here,” she squeaked, “it’ll look like a personal attack on Thomas. I-it’ll seem like I’m still trying to argue with him.” 

“No, it’ll be alright Crystal. This bar is underground for a reason. It’s for people in the spotlight to avoid being seen. No social media, nothing. We got some hot pictures taken of you when we stopped for food, now you can actually enjoy tonight. I’ve got enough Instagram followers, I’ll post a selfie or two and they’ll never know where we were,” reassured Bri. 

“How can you be sure?” asked Crystal, her voice shaking. 

“Come on girl,” said Monet, “have you ever heard of this place? It’s right in the city, but you’ve never seen anyone here, right? Trust us, we won’t screw you over.” 

Bri skipped over to the door, which was being held open for them by the last of a hen party and grabbed it from the drunk woman who was complimenting her. Monet cackled and nudged Crystal when a man on the other side looked Bri up and down, asking for her ID. Grumbling when she fished around for it, she handed it over with a falsely sweet smile until he eyed her and waved a hand to signal that she was allowed in. Monet and Crystal already had theirs out, but the man barely looked at them. It wasn’t necessarily because they looked older, but because they were significantly taller than their friend and not wearing bright pink. When they had stepped through the door, the hen party guest was still talking animatedly to Bri. 

“I refuse to believe you’re old enough to be in here!” she was slurring, “God you make me feel old.” 

“Thank you for watching our angel,” said Monet, arm around Crystal and pinching Bri’s cheek, “a fake ID was cheaper than a babysitter.” 

Bri stomped down hard on Monet’s shoe as the woman eyed the three of them very cautiously. In the end, she decided a nervous laugh would excuse herself from the conversation and she made her way to where her friends crowded a table. There was one empty seat which Crystal assumed was left for the horrifically detailed inflatable doll currently dancing with the bride. 

“Brat,” shouted Monet, shoving Bri.

Crystal found the bar almost overwhelming, but she was also completely fascinated by it. It was much bigger on the inside than it looked. A bar spanned one wall with red bar stools along it and all completely occupied. Two very stressed bartenders were juggling shot glasses, lemons and cola taps as orders were being barked at them. There was a small stage on the adjacent wall, with a glittery backdrop, which was currently being used as seating for those who’d danced too hard to the previous song. A few tables were spread out in a corner and were home to the hen party, a birthday party and what looked like a group of students. Each table held confetti and plenty of empty cocktail jugs. A spiral staircase in the other corner led to what Crystal thought was a separate dance floor and a smoking terrace. She thought she’d seen smoke from outside. 

“Why is it so busy? It’s a Monday,” said Crystal with a frown. 

Monet shrugged, “It’s always busy here. There’s no pictures to prove you weren’t sick when you call into work the next morning.” 

Crystal realised that was probably a very valid explanation and allowed herself to be taken to the bar. Bri had managed to manoeuvre her way through the crowd and had caught the attention of one of the bartenders by leaving a note in the tip jar. She didn’t wait for the other two to tell her what they wanted, she just ordered for them anyway. She also put her coat down the other side of the bar, and Crystal wondered how many times she’d frequented this bar for her to skip out on the cloakroom prices. A few minutes later, Bri carried three drinks carefully away from the bar and handed them out. Then, she went back and retrieved three shot glasses. 

“For myself I ordered a vodka cranberry-timeless and classic, for Monet I chose a gin and tonic- delicious but a little bit basic and for our new friend it had to be a vodka red bull; tastes amazing but makes you jittery as fuck.” 

Crystal looked at the shot in her hand. 

“Oh, and three sambucas of course.” 

Bri counted down and the three of them tipped back their shot glasses. It didn’t taste bad, almost like liquorice, but it caught in the back of Crystal’s throat and she tried hard not to cough it up again. She’d never really liked shots, but this one had given her the buzz she’d needed to shake her nerves. Besides, she knew she had to be fun to be around or Bri and Monet wouldn’t want her to go out with them again. Monet made a gagging noise but grabbed the glasses from the others to put them on the bar. 

The bar was now playing a remix of a Britney Spears song and the majority of the occupants were dancing messily in the dark. Crystal couldn’t see any of their faces except when spotlights occasionally lit them up and she could see the excessive makeup and glittery cheeks. Well, she thought it was glitter, but she supposed it could be sweat as well. 

Crystal liked clubbing. She was still young and drinking was still a concept she loved, and when she had a drink she was a lot more confident. Even now, when she didn’t feel close to tipsy, she wasn’t second guessing everything she said anymore. Monet was still at the bar, talking to one of the bartenders she was friends with. Bri put a hand on Crystal’s arm, snapping her out of her reverie. 

“You know,” said Bri, sambuca loosening her tongue, “I get you. I’m constantly worrying about what people think of me. But Monet taught me something. If you pretend like nothing bothers you, eventually it doesn’t.” 

“It’s hard, you know, when no one knows what you’re really like.” 

“Let’s change that,” shouted Monet from her bar stool, “one night out and you know everything you need to about someone. But you have to get judged by the famous bartender first. Crystal come meet her.” 

“Did you two bring us a Heavens virgin?” drawled the bartender, straining to look over Monet’s shoulder.

Her body was draped over the bar and she was taking sips from Monet’s drink when the man wasn’t looking. 

Crystal felt as though she had to introduce herself to the woman. The bartender wore a white t-shirt with what she assumed was the ‘Heaven’s’ logo and an apron pulled tight around her waist. When Crystal got closer she could see the woman’s tattoos and fishnets, which matched her crazy blue hair. There were ink scribbles on her tanned arms, too, though less permanent. They seemed to all be numbers and eventually Crystal figured out it was probably some workings out for change or measurements. 

“This is Adore,” said Monet, “whose real name we don’t use for legal reasons. Best not to ask any questions about that. Adore, this is Crystal.” 

The woman was young, probably too young to be working in a bar, but she looked as though she took it all in her stride. Judging by the glassy look in her eyes and the toothy smiles Adore had probably been accepting every drink bought for her since she started her shift. 

Adore’s mouth quirked, “Oh, you’re a stripper too then?”

When Crystal stuttered Adore laughed obnoxiously, “I’m only kidding. Don’t get too many Crystals in here. Oh, shit, wait! You’re the Crystal that Monet works with? Give me your glass.” 

Adore ran to the back of the bar, poured a double shot of vodka into a measure and tipped it into Crystal’s glass. 

“That’s on me. Well, not really, I’m not paying for it. But you definitely need it, so I’m sure the boss will understand.”

“Adore was here when this place opened. An old friend ran it and got her the job. She’s been here so long that people come here just to see her. I met her at the New Years’ party, you were there Crystal. I mean, Willam’s the only person anyone remembers from that night,” Monet explained. 

“Oh yeah, he fucked my friend, didn’t he? That was the first night in a while I went home alone. Anyway, Crystal, if you need a job, we can probably find you one. You don’t look like you can sing or dance, so you’ll have to be backstage with me.” 

“She didn’t get fired you dopey bitch,” said Monet, “do you really think I’d take her here if she was sad? It would be like taking a piñata to a funeral.” 

Adore clutched her chest with her hand, “This place is great for cheering people up! We have alcohol, music and staff who hate their lives way more than you do.”

“Sounds like a treat,” slurred Bri, who’d been bothering the second, now much busier bartender. 

“So, which one of you is buying me a drink? Beer, preferably,” asked Adore, a pout on her flushed face which Crystal imagined was her go-to with customers. 

Bri and Monet looked at Crystal. 

“Don’t look at me, I probably won’t have a job by the end of the week.” 

Adore laughed wildly, “Girl’s got a point. Alright, I’ll buy my own.” 

The bartender who’d previously been serving Bri turned her head in their direction. Her hair was as wild as Adore’s but was a fiery yellowy-orange instead. Crystal wondered if bright hair, tattoos and piercings were part of the uniform here. She didn’t even come up to Adore’s shoulder but she reached into the girl’s bra and took out her credit card. 

“Watch it, Miss Queen, one shot could put me in debt,” tutted Adore, but she allowed her co-worker to buy them both a drink. 

Miss Queen, Crystal thought she’d heard over the music, shrugged, “Sissy wouldn’t buy me one and one of my blow jobs wouldn’t even pay for a peanut.” 

Bri choked on her drink, “Oh my god, never say that again.” 

“Your dad must be so proud,” hummed Monet. 

When Crystal frowned, the second bartender smiled at her, “My name’s Laila. You’re Crystal, I assume. I recognised your face from tv, not surprised to see you in here really. That and my sister really likes an underdog.” 

“Sister?” 

“Brianna,” Laila waved dismissively. 

“You’re sisters?” 

Bri sighed, “We’re adopted, you’d get it if you saw our dad.” 

“I look more like their dad than they do. But also, don’t ignore the fact that her name is Brianna Queen,” advised Monet, who obviously still found it funny despite knowing the fact already. 

“Not to you it’s not,” warned Bri, the alcohol making her words join together in a string of mumbling. 

“Bri was there when I moved in. I was only being fostered at the time, but she was, like, ready to leave for University. When she moved back in after dropping out which we all knew would happen, we got on just fine,” explained Laila. 

“At least I tried,” huffed Bri, “you still live at home and strip on the weekends.” 

“Doesn’t everyone strip at the weekend?” piped up Adore, “Isn’t that what they’re for?” 

Crystal took a much needed sip of her drink. Her face screwed up involuntarily when she remembered how much alcohol it now contained, thanks to Adore. It was difficult to taste anything other than vodka; the taste of red bull and sambuca now flushed away by the attack on her taste buds. It did give her an instant boost of energy and, without caring how manufactured that energy was, Crystal found she was able to enjoy the newcomers more.

“How come they let you keep your job, Crystal? I mean, I know you’re great there but they must’ve given you some kind of ultimatum, right? Like, whose dick do you gotta suck to stay in the business?” asked Adore. 

Monet rolled her eyes, “I was just about to say how impressed I was by your big words, but you had to go and ruin it.” 

Crystal blushed, “Um, I don’t really know. I have a chance to prove myself but, like, I guess it’s still all up in the air.” 

Laila shrugged, “Girl if they wanted to fire you they would’ve done it already. I say you need to stop worrying.” 

“Hey ladies, hate to break up your gossip but can I please get a cocktail,” shouted another member of the infamous hen party, who’d been tapping her foot impatiently for the last couple of minutes. 

Adore and Laila stared at each other until Laila gave in, not without a very loud grumble, and went to ask the woman what she wanted. When it happened to be a long island iced tea, she told the woman that they’d run out of both tequila and rum and the customer had stormed off in a huff. The obvious lie had worked and Laila re-joined the group. By now, though, Monet and Bri were very keen to dance. They were already swaying on their feet and inching over to the dance floor. 

“See you both later for some more shots,” said Monet, grabbing a hold of Crystal and dragging her away. 

“Only if you tip your bartenders,” Adore shouted back. 

The two young bartenders were forgotten about quickly. Bri was definitely a state by this point and was starting to feel the dancing. Her whole body swayed and flew, knocking a fair few people out of her way as she went. Considering her size, she didn’t seem at all fazed by the dirty looks she was getting. 

Monet had consumed enough alcohol at this point to enjoy himself and was happily dancing better than Bri. Crystal, though she always joked about it, did not consider herself to be a dancer. Well, she did, but not a good dancer. Still, she felt happy enough now to throw out corny, embarrassing dance moves which Monet adored. He copied them and the two of them nearly fell over. 

Monet was in the middle of filming a video for his social media, posing on the other end of his phone, when a woman let out a high-pitched scream and called his name. He looked up in confusion but grinned when he saw the source.

“Hey! Pepper!” Monet sprinted into the arms of someone he was presumably friends with, both equally happy to see each other. 

“He’s always doing that,” Bri said with a giggle, “you won’t have him to yourself all night, he’s friends with fucking everyone!” 

But before Crystal could complain, Bri was gone too. 

When Bri had disappeared for the hundredth time, Crystal had imagined she’d gone back to the bar. She would buy Laila an occasional drink so that her sister would serve her first. The problem with really quick service was that Bri was downing more alcohol than Crystal though her body would carry. When she looked at the bar and found Bri wasn’t there, she assumed the bathroom was calling her. Crystal hadn’t seen Monet in ages, though, and found now she was dancing among complete strangers. 

Someone she’d made friends with had dashed to the bar, leaving a space between Crystal and the hordes of people around her. 

“Hi, excuse me,” said a voice in the crowd, and Crystal spun to look at them. 

“Hey?” 

The stranger was a man wearing neon t-shirt and adorning bright colourful hair. If Crystal hadn’t known any better, she’d assumed he’d worked there. 

“I really don’t want to bother you…but you’ve been in the news and I just wanted to talk to you. It makes me so angry that everyone’s in love with that bigot and I loved what you said. Not many people stand up to him, and I know you loved your job but you can find a better one.” 

The man didn’t wait for a response and shyly scurried away back to his friends. Crystal couldn’t believe that everyone assumed she’d been fired. Did they know something she didn’t? Drinking didn’t normally make her this paranoid. It was terrifying to her that so many people assumed she had lost her job and the reason for that is, probably, that she should’ve. So, why didn’t she? She knew this was the worst time to think about it, and Laila thankfully pulled her out of her downward spiral. 

“Do we need to kick that guy out? I’ll do it,” Laila called from where she was sweeping up confetti from the hen party’s table. 

“N-no it’s cool, he didn’t do anything.” 

“Hey, Crystal,” said Adore with a grin, “There’s a pole in the next room and I’m pretty sure it’s Monet’s turn. You won’t want to miss that, trust me.” 

Crystal tried to smile as she talked to the woman stuck behind the bar, “Sounds incredible. I’m just gonna smoke first.” 

The atmosphere was getting too much for her. She felt as though everyone knew who she was and, worst, everyone was judging her. It was just paranoia, she knew that probably wasn’t true, but any time a glance was cast in her direction she felt the need to explain herself to them. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to get drunk. If she were Bri or Monet, none of this would’ve phased her. She wished she was more like them. 

It was hard for her to climb the stairs when they were so slippery with spilt drinks. Her shoes either slid in puddles or stuck to the step. Two young men almost knocked her over when the charged up to the second floor, trying desperately not to miss the song that was playing. 

The floor above had a DJ and was playing a completely different set of music. It wasn’t to Crystal’s taste, she always liked a good cheesy singalong, but the dance floor was just as packed as the one below it. Crystal had to squirm and wriggle through sweaty, jerking bodies who were all much taller than her, and she was starting to regret her decision to come here. 

It was an incredible relief when she found no one else was in the smoking area. It wasn’t as though she hated making friends in there, but now she wanted to be on her own. The smoking area was a long, narrow balcony attached to the upper dance floor. She pushed the glass doors open and sighed contently at the sudden rush of fresh, untainted air. There weren’t any seats, just an ash tray attached to the wall to dispose of your butts. Stumbling slightly, Crystal hovered by it. 

Crystal felt around in her trouser pockets for the cigarette packet she could feel. She withdrew the barely-touched Marlboro and put one in between her two fingers. They weren’t really to her taste, mostly due to how expensive they were, but she’d found them in her bag after her last night out and decided to just keep them. It was only on rare occasions that she’d actually take one. 

With her legs buzzing unsteadily from the vibrations of the music below, she leaned against the brick wall. Even her hands were shaking and it took her several, long attempts to actually light her cigarette. 

If she smoked weed, which she often did, and rolled it herself, which she always did, she found it was a lot easier on her lungs. The filter on the Marlboros let too much into her body and it was almost impossible for her eyes to stop watering. It always took her so much longer to smoke one of these but tonight, that was what she wanted. She blew smoke into the ink-black sky and watched dizzily as the stars danced around each other. Crystal laughed, thinking about how the stars could hear the music too. 

She found herself staring up into the sky, blowing smoke out into the open air. Even when she’d finished her cigarette, she still stared up at it. Maybe she should run away, she thought, and just study the stars out the back of an old pick-up truck. That would be a much more relaxing job, she was sure of it. Crystal tried to think if that was even a real job, but the only word in her head was astronaut, and she was convinced that meant something different. 

There wasn’t too much time to dwell on it because the glass doors swung open, almost shattering against the wall, and Crystal stared wide-eyed at Monet as he stumbled towards her. She noticed his one was pulled behind him and he was holding onto Bri like she was a toddler. 

“Uh, Crystal, girl, we really gotta go,” said Monet. 

“Why,” pouted Crystal, “I was just saying hi to the stars.” 

“You can get aquainted another time, we need to leave this damn bar.” 

“Why? It’s not too late.” 

Monet sighed, “Crystal. Do you remember that woman who is currently deciding if your career is worth saving?” 

Crystal racked her brain, “You mean Gigi?” 

“Yes, I mean Gigi. She’s fucking here. Like, Laila knows her from parties and stuff and told Bri she’s been at the bar. Which means we could bump into her any minute. And I’m pretty sure if she’s here, the last people she wants to see are her stupid co-workers.” 

“You’re right,” gasped Crystal, “What if she thinks we’d out her and then she gets me fired in revenge?” 

“Obviously we’re not going to do that, but I think it’s best if we just get outta here. We’ll sneak down the stairs with no incident. Right Bri?” 

Bri barely looked awake, “I won’t do shit.” 

Monet sighed, “Yeah right, bitch! You’ve been causing a scene since that fifth sambuca shot.” 

Monet turned towards the glass doors, holding Bri tight in his arms so she didn’t escape. Crystal followed at the back, turning once to look at the stars and then closing the door behind them all. With the added effort of blending into the background, Crystal struggled to walk down the stairs. Each time she was nudged or knocked, she was on the verge of falling over. 

Now that the customers were starting to get drunk, Laila and Adore found themselves much busier. Laila was fumbling around with about ten shot glasses that she was filling up and Adore was pouring pints for a rowdy duo of college students. They three of them paused to say goodbye but neither bartender had noticed, so they carried on to the outside. 

Very surprisingly, they made it out of the front door of the bar with very little incident. Aside from a handful of smokers, everyone else was still inside. It wasn’t late enough for the bar to be closing and anyone still inside had likely already decided to call into work in the morning. Crystal probably would’ve done the same if she wasn’t already in trouble. For a moment she wondered if Bri and Monet would stay in bed tomorrow and she’d be left to fend for herself. 

Even though Crystal had been in outside in the smoking area only a few minutes ago, the hot, sweaty atmosphere of the bar had hit her when she’d walked through it. Standing outside, even if the air was filled with both cigarette smoke and weed, calmed her down instantly. Bri had run off ahead of them, leaving Monet and Crystal behind. They weren’t too worried, figuring she’d just be dancing outside somewhere. 

“Have a good night,” said the bouncer who now had to stand outside of the bar and make sure no one underage was getting in. 

“You know, she’s not out front,” said Crystal. 

“She’s only got little legs, she can’t be far.” 

“Maybe she went to the nearest club?” 

There was a loud, very characteristically drunk shout, that told Crystal she was very wrong. 

“Shit, I think she’s starting a fight,” Monet gaped, looking in the direction of slurred, violent shouting from the side of the building which formed Heavens. They exchanged a fearful glance before skidding around the corner. 

“You fucking put your hands on me again and I’ll get my boyfriend on you,” one of the women was saying when Monet and Crystal ran over there. 

Sure enough, Bri was standing on her tip-toes facing two red-faced, snarling women.

“It was your stupid boyfriend who pulled your hair, not me, you dumb bitch,” Bri was saying, though her words were barely audible. 

“Oh, so you’re stealing her boyfriend now?” asked the second woman. 

“You’re in a gay bar asking me if I want her ugly man?” spat Bri. 

“Right, that’s enough, let’s go home,” said Monet, stepping in between the women. 

“What did you say about my boyfriend?” 

“Come on,” Crystal coaxed once it was clear Bri wasn’t going anywhere. 

“You heard me!” 

Monet wasn’t strong enough to stop the woman from pushing him aside and reaching for Bri. The drunk receptionist, who was child-sized at best, let out a yelp as the bigger woman lunged for her. Crystal was frozen as she watched them. 

Bri managed to get in a slap and her opponent got in a scratch of the cheek before two bouncers separated them and dragged them away from each other. While Bri looked flustered, she was unharmed, so the bouncers let her off with a warning. 

“Sorry,” Crystal squeaked to the bouncer in charge of Bri and he just huffed at her. 

When Bri had calmed down, Crystal looked over to see who had called the bouncers over. She was paranoid that the person had filmed it, posting it to further destroy her career. 

However, what she saw was arguably much, much worse. Gigi Goode was thanking the bouncers, watching Bri with obvious disdain.

Then, she turned to Monet, “Maybe you should’ve called for the bouncers before your co-worker got herself hit.” 

Monet looked too stunned to answer. Crystal wasn’t surprised. Blended shades of green and blue made her eyelids look like a painting of the ocean and she wore a jumpsuit in the shade of the sky. A belt tied in her tiny waist and white heels made her stand even more poised than usual. She looked like she should be at a fashion show, not a dirty bar, but this wasn’t an unusual occurrence for Gigi. 

Her expression was borderline threatening and Crystal was terrified that she’d be fired on the spot. 

“I wanted you to go for pizza,” said Gigi, her words very slightly mumbled from drinking. She’d been shifting under Crystal’s stare, but the latter woman hadn’t noticed. 

“They wanted me to drink,” Crystal shrugged, feeling guilty that she’d disappointed her. 

“I’m not surprised,” Gigi said, shooting another glare to Bri, “I just hoped you’d have the common sense not to.” 

“It went fine until, like, ten seconds ago,” reassured Monet. 

“You’re lucky I was the only one who saw that shit show.” 

“I’m sorry,” said Crystal softly, “I’ll stick to dominos in the future, I promise.” 

Gigi didn’t say a word. Her face had softened slightly when Crystal looked as though she was about to cry, but she was clearly still angry. Crystal had a suspicion that Gigi was more embarrassed that angry. Why was she there? In a gay bar on a Monday night? Crystal remembered someone saying that Heavens was a place to hide. Maybe Gigi was a regular.   
“Bri, I’m tired, can you call a cab or an Uber or something?” asked Monet.

Bri was dead to the world. She was swaying on her feet and Crystal wasn’t sure she’d even noticed that Gigi was there. 

“Never mind. Crystal?” 

“Can someone else call for a cab? My phone’s dead,” asked Crystal, her eyes fixed down to her blank phone screen.

“The cabs will be busy now,” slurred Bri.

“We can wait, it’s not too late,” reassured Monet. They’d left at a time that would mean they’d all make it to work the next morning. 

Crystal, in nothing but her t-shirt, began to shiver. Normally the alcohol would keep her warm, but since she hadn’t done much dancing for a while it wasn’t working. Bri, on the other hand, seemed to be sweating everywhere from the amount of dancing she’d done. Monet was having to keep her upright. 

Gigi folded her arms across her chest, “I’ve got a cab waiting, my friends are on the other side of town so there’s room for you.” 

“You really wouldn’t mind? To be fair, I really don’t want to be the only somewhat sober one in the car,” said Monet. 

Gigi beckoned them to follow her and Crystal couldn’t help the way she bounded by her side. The quick movement made her legs start to buckle and she forced herself to walk properly so she wouldn’t embarrass herself. 

It took both Monet and Gigi to coax Bri forward. She’d heard the distant beats from a club nearby and insisted they go for one more drink. It didn’t matter how many times Monet told her that they had work in the morning, she wouldn’t listen. 

“She can’t be too heavy to pick up,” commented Gigi, who was extremely exasperated by the whole situation. 

“That’s true,” said Monet, “but she’s a wriggler.”

They walked down the street and found a cul-de-sac of flashing takeaways and clubs just starting to get lively. Bri was now walking slightly behind the others but still let out a whine anytime someone called to them from a bar or club and asked them to join. One glare from Gigi was enough to shut her up, but she started pining again when they passed the next one. 

There was a small car park in the middle of it all and various cars sat there, evidently all cabs waiting to take people to and from their night out. Crystal examined them all, though her vison was getting blurry. One was a small Fiat, the other was a Volvo, but that was the extent of her car knowledge. There were a few more tattered, old cars but one stood out; black, shining and expensive. 

“Is yours that posh one?” asked Bri, having the same idea as Crystal. 

“Let’s hope so,” muttered Gigi, trying to hold Bri back even though she was already banging on the driver’s window.

The driver wound down the window and eyed up the boisterous women, hoping that he wouldn’t have to charge them for vomit cleaning. None of them had reached the point of puking yet, though Crystal assumed it wouldn’t be long for Bri. The sooner they left, the better. 

Monet climbed in the front despite the driver asking for Gigi, claiming she felt sick in the back. That had left Bri on one side, Gigi in the middle and Crystal on the other. 

“If you drop us off by your place,” suggested Monet, “I can walk the others home. I don’t think anyone’s that far away from you.” 

Gigi nodded but didn’t say anything to confirm. 

She sat as professionally as she did at work. Her leg was crossed over her other one and her hands were in her lap. Crystal wasn’t sure how the woman managed to sit so tall and steady after a few drinks. Her face flushed when she realised she was probably staring, so she focused instead on the blurry view out of the front window. Bri had apparently woken up by the time the driver began to move and looked quizzically at the trio with her. 

“Isn’t it weird that Snoopy, The Simpsons and Kermit are all on the walk of fame? Like, they all have stars. They are recognised as Hollywood celebrities,” said Bri in a daze. 

“Why’d you even think about that?” asked Monet. 

“Crystal sounds like Kermit when she sings. I thought about it in the bar.”

“I don’t! Anyway, it’s strange for the last two, I mean they’re not even real,” agreed Crystal. 

Monet looked at Crystal, “You…you think Snoopy is real?” 

Crystal looked bewildered at the accusation, “He’s a rapper…” 

The cackle Monet let out was other-worldly, “Crystal, my god, she’s talking about the fucking dog.” 

“I know.” 

“Not the Dogg, bitch, the cartoon dog,” Monet wheezed. 

Right now, Crystal wasn’t capable of considering how ridiculous her comment had been. She smiled absent-mindedly as Monet howled with laughter, pausing to explain what had just happened to Bri, who seemed to have missed it all. 

What Crystal did notice, however, was the faint smirk on Gigi Goode’s face. The woman was clearly drunk, you couldn’t leave a bar like that sober, but it was still the first time Crystal had seen her look happy. That professional façade had very, very slightly begun to cave in and Crystal couldn’t be more excited. 

Gigi had obviously spotted Crystal watching her because she shook her head and muttered something about how alcohol kills brain cells. Crystal gave a slight laugh and dropped her head onto Gigi’s shoulder. No one noticed but Gigi tensed so hard that Crystal nearly shot upright again. She probably would’ve if she wasn’t exhausted. 

Crystal had just begun to fall asleep when the car stuttered to a stop and pulled up against a curb. She jumped slightly and her cheek lifted from Gigi’s shoulder, only to fall back onto it. Gigi had noticed that the woman was awake now and she shrugged to free her shoulder. Bleary-eyed, Crystal brought herself to a sitting position to find the car had stopped completely. 

“We’re here,” Gigi whispered to her, and for the first time Crystal remembered who she was in the car with. Bri was staring out the window and Monet was rambling to the driver who was showing no interest. 

“Bri, how you feeling?” asked Monet once he’d gotten out of the car, walked around the front and opened the door in front of Bri. 

“Sick. Need to go home. Now.” 

“Crystal your house is in the opposite direction, right? You think you can survive until we drop this alcoholic home?” 

Crystal clambered out of the car, with Gigi holding her elbow to help her out. Gigi followed and went to pay the driver, who looked desperate to leave before Monet asked him to drive Crystal home. As soon as he was paid, and tipped, he drove away into the night. 

Crystal looked at Monet, “Maybe?” 

Gigi sighed, “I’ll walk her home. I know the area, I’ll be fine. You worry about Brianna.” 

Monet looked taken aback, “Are you sure, Gigi?” 

“It’s ten minutes, we’ll be fine.” 

Monet hugged Crystal goodbye, giving Gigi a doubtful look, before focusing his attention on Bri. He wrapped an arm around the receptionist and began to walk her home. She really wasn’t far away, so Crystal assumed they’d be fine. 

“I hope you can walk unassisted,” Gigi said pointedly when they’d parted ways with the other two. 

“Of course, I can.” 

“You can’t even walk straight.” 

Crystal took the opportunity, “Speaking of straight, what are you doing in a gay bar on a Monday?” 

If the look of steel on Gigi’s face was anything to go by, Crystal was going to really regret her words. 

“You get to go home on the weekends, but I have meetings, invitations, appearances…My work with clients like you would mean nothing if I wasn’t gaining a reputation for myself. My friends are students so I go out with them and I don’t have to worry about being seen. That’s why I’m not shocked to find you in Heavens, it’s a perfect blind spot from the public.” 

“Yeah, a guy came to talk to me about everything and he didn’t even try and take photos.” 

Gigi nodded, “It’s always like that. What did he say to you, anyway?” 

The evening had been long-since drawn into the inky black of night but the threat of sunrise was still far away. Crystal was glad, she definitely needed a few hours’ sleep before she faced the next work day. At least Violet didn’t want her doing anything important, so she should be able to avoid anything too tasking. She’d almost completely forgotten about the stars she loved so much until they passed the cluster of streetlights and they could be seen much clearer. With her head faced up to them, she stumbled. If Gigi had noticed, she didn’t say anything. 

“He said he was sorry I got fired. Everyone’s been saying that…I’m starting to think Violet made a mistake.” 

“Violet thought about it,” Gigi admitted, “but she didn’t want to. I said I’d work with you first, then she agreed to keep you.” 

Crystal felt a flutter in her chest, just like she had when she’d been looking at the stars in the smoking area. 

“I have you to thank, then?” 

Gigi shrugged, “If I do my job right, then I guess so.” 

The rest of the walk was silent. Crystal noticed how Gigi would walk with about a foot between them after their hands had accidentally brushed. Even after a few drinks, Gigi wasn’t going to loosen up. Crystal would’ve enjoyed the chance to get to know the woman, but she wasn’t interested. When Crystal slowed down, approaching her apartment complex, she saw Gigi’s tense frame relax slightly. 

“I’m just there,” Crystal said, pointing to the second floor window where the curtains were open and fairy lights hung against the glass. You could see two small plants on the windowsill, both were house-warming presents that she’d miraculously managed to keep alive. 

“Perfect.” 

“Do you want to come in?” asked Crystal, the words leaving her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. 

“No,” Gigi put simply, turning on her heels. 

Crystal stood at the doorway of her apartment complex, watching as the white heels disappeared into the shadows. In the moonlight, she could just about see the woman illuminated in the night. Even when Gigi was long gone, Crystal stood rooted to the spot, trying to tell herself that it was the vodka making her feel sick.


	5. The Models

It had taken Crystal an hour to even open her eyes in the morning. The banging of her head was so strong she wasn’t even sure if her eyes were open or closed; all she saw was a white light. The relentless ringing of her alarm really, really didn’t help the situation. Blinded by the pain, she slammed her hand on her bedside table until she found her phone. Unfortunately, her hand collided with the side of it and sent it flying onto the floor before she had a chance to switch off the alarm. 

With a sigh, she decided forcing herself from her pile of pillows and blankets would be the only way she’d make it into work on time. Legs still shaky, she crawled to her phone and turned it to silent. The pain in her head eased slightly. Still sitting on the floor, she looked down at the notifications lighting up her phone screen. 

It really hadn’t surprised Crystal even remotely when Bri had texted her and offered an apology, saying there was no way she was getting out of bed that morning. Apparently, Monet had to peel her off the porch of her flat and, with the help of a neighbour, carried her to her bed. She’d woken up on the floor. Crystal would’ve been mad, but then Bri sent her a selfie of her that morning. Looking like that, Crystal didn’t even want to see Bri attempt to make it into work. Bri had given her Monet’s number though, promising that he’d be there to support her. 

As Crystal was getting ready to leave for the day, Monet responded to the text she’d sent him, which consisted of her name and a series of emojis. 

Monet: girl I’m glad ur awake because I am not going in alone. I’ll meet you outside with a coffee. U know since that’s my job.

Crystal: cool cool, I’ll b there at 9

Without responding further, Monet simply sent a link. It went straight to Bri’s Instagram. Her account was very personal, as she didn’t have a need for a professional account like Crystal, and it was filled mainly with selfies. Every now and again there would be a picture of her travels or a quote on a pink background. Her most recent addition, which Monet had sent Crystal, was of the three of them. It was a full body shot they’d gotten from propping Bri’s phone up on a wall. Crystal vaguely remembered how long it had taken to get the timing right. It had been taken before they’d gotten food so they each glowed in the light of the setting sun. 

Bri was beaming in the middle, one leg kicked out in front of her, holding both her friends for balance. Crystal was grinning, hand on her hip, and Monet stuck his tongue out. He was oblivious to the stress he’d have to endure for the rest of the night. It was a really nice picture and it reminded Crystal how she hadn’t taken one like it since college. She didn’t have many friends now. Her face smiled involuntarily as she liked the photo and put heart emojis in the comments. It was impossible for her eyes not to drift to the comments under her own. Bri had a huge following and a couple of thousand likes on that picture alone. 

Crystal felt light-headed with relief when most of the comments were about the ‘unexpected’ friendship. Monet had a large following too, and was in lots of Bri’s posts, but they were all excited about the third member of the trio. She even had compliments about how she looked, which rarely happened on her own Instagram. There were some comments about how they didn’t like her, but they were few enough for her to ignore. 

Crystal was still smiling when she read the caption: ‘I died, Monet cried and Crystal got pied’. 

Her eyes flew open. Shit. So, she must’ve called Bri to tell her what happened with Gigi when she’d gotten into her apartment. She pulled up her knees and buried her head in them. It was bad enough that she’d had to witness it herself, let alone have her friends remind her of it whenever they saw her. She just hoped Bri didn’t have Gigi on social media. 

It was all a little bit blurry. Crystal didn’t remember the ride home, or really why Gigi had been with them. Worse, her only vivid memory was Gigi turning sharply and leaving Crystal alone on the doorstep. In fairness, Crystal barely knew one thing about the woman, aside from her name, but she’d thought maybe this partnership would work better had they been friends. She should’ve known; distance is important to people like Gigi. 

Trying not to think about it, Crystal pulled herself upright and decided it would be criminal not to shower before work. After all, there was still vodka sticking to her bare arms. She hadn’t bothered to wash her hair, since it had escaped any dramas from the night before, so managed to keep it dry. She had less than an hour to get dressed and do her makeup and being late to work really wasn’t an option when she was meant to spend the morning with Gigi Goode. 

There was an art to choosing her outfit today, as the day outside was lovely, and she knew she wouldn’t get drowned out like before. This time, she could leave the house and arrive at work in the same state, which was a luxury after Monday. She’d found a jumpsuit on her chair, a long-sleeved navy one with the odd sparkle of glitter from the last time she’d worn it and paired it with some leopard print heels. It was definitely more mundane that what she saw half of the company wearing on a daily basis, but she felt as though it was nice enough to warrant a polite compliment. She still had a lot of making-up to do; and not just to Gigi. 

By the time she’d locked her front door and sped down to the ground floor of her apartment complex, the sun had begun to shine a little bit brighter. As soon as she swung the door open, her headache came crashing back into her head and she held a hand over her eyes, groaning. Now she understood why people wore sunglasses. 

“Rough night?” asked her neighbour with a light chuckle as he stood by his door ready to go to work. 

“Something like that.” 

“Glad you had a good night, it sounded like it anyway. Glad someone has fun on a Monday,” the man laughed. 

With the irritatingly polite conversation over, Crystal began to walk to work. She was really hoping Gigi wouldn’t walk past, even though she was sure the woman was driven to work, or at least drove herself in a fancy car. The possibility of her driving past was nerve-wracking too. 

It took a while for Crystal to convince herself that to people like Gigi, being on time for work was being late. She had definitely arrived at work hours ago, gotten herself an oat-milk-no-sugar coffee and settled at her desk. Crystal wasn’t entirely sure what it was Gigi did other than saving the rest of their jobs, but she imagined the woman on a very important phone call all morning. Maybe if Gigi still wanted to talk to her, she’d ask the woman what she did. 

Crystal had been thinking about it so hard that even if Gigi had driven past and honked at her, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. Her head was tilted slightly upwards so she could enjoy the unfamiliar sunshine on her face. It was a good thing she had her path memorised because she was paying no attention to the streets around her. 

When she could see Tchotchke in the distance, she hesitated. Walking much slower now than she had been before, she paused to look at her phone. Social media had been such a huge part of her career, but right now she was terrified to look. She hadn’t posted since Gigi had told her to-not even liking or commenting on anything. With a deep breath, she opened up Instagram again and found the photo Bri had posted. It had a lot more likes now but Crystal was glad to see the hate comments hadn’t balanced this out. They were few and far between, most only looking for a reaction. With hands shaking pathetically in the warmth of the day, Crystal uploaded the photo to her story with a hand-drawn heart. She immediately locked her phone, too scared to look again. 

Monet was an extremely welcome distraction. In the distance, Crystal could see him sitting cross-legged on a wall beside their building. He was scrolling through his phone, occasionally greeting co-workers as they came into work, but otherwise was ignoring everything else. He’d only noticed Crystal was nearby because Crystal had walked into someone and had to apologise. 

“Oi,” Monet shouted when Crystal skipped up to him.

“I thought you’d be in a terrible mood.” 

“Bri sent me a video of her throwing up this morning, so I feel much better. She really looks like shit, it made me feel amazing.” 

Crystal laughed, “Is she always that bad at drinking?” 

Monet nodded, “Every…single…time. I tell her that a person of her size probably needs half of what she actually drinks to get drunk but, no, that’s too slow. It takes too long to get drunk like a normal person, apparently. Speaking of drinking like a normal person, I feel like you might need this.” 

When Monet handed Crystal a cold brew coffee, her worries melted with the ice inside. She took a sip; the caffeine and sugar making her forget everything about her rough night. Monet laughed, clearly in a better mood than he’d been before, and she suspected that was due to the now empty cup of coffee still in his hands. 

“So,” Monet tested the water, “how are you going to handle seeing Gigi today?” 

“She won’t bring last night up, she’s too professional for that.” 

Monet sucked in a breath, “She’s also pretty ruthless. You’ll be fine, but she definitely won’t let you forget it.” 

“Why did you take us to Heavens?” groaned Crystal.

“Hey, how were we supposed to know she’d be there? I didn’t even know she was gay!” 

“I don’t think she is.” 

“Oh yeah, sorry girl, I forgot,” cringed Monet. 

“I wasn’t trying to hook up with her! I-I just felt awkward because she had to take me home and I thought it would be nice to offer her a coffee or something!”

Monet laughed, “That’s not what you said to Bri.” 

Crystal pushed Monet, almost knocking both their coffees to the ground, “I didn’t mean any of it! I was just drunk, I didn’t know what I was saying.” 

“Drunk words are sober thoughts, right?” 

“Wrong,” said Crystal, “drunk words are gibberish. Now can we get inside before I get an interrogation from Violet as well as you?” 

Monet led the way into the building, through security, and to where Bri normally spent her days behind her desk. There was someone else sat there today, a lanky brunette, who Crystal assumed was an intern. They both said hi to her before stopping in the reception to go their separate ways. 

“Good luck with lover girl,” said Monet, offering a teasing wave before making his way to the kitchen, presumably to get Violet her morning coffee. Violet didn’t trust actual baristas to make her drinks, not after the time they forgot to give her oat milk, so she’d given Monet instructions and it had been that way since. 

Crystal flashed Monet her middle finger until he disappeared around the corner. His laugh still echoed and bounced off the walls though. Her own laugh was drowned out quickly by her loud, worrying thoughts. She knew she had to go straight to Gigi, as their ‘sessions’ were organised for the entire week, but something nagged at her to just turn around and forget it all. 

She made her way down the stairs that she’d not yet braved alone, finding now that more people were making their way around her. Some gave her strange looks and others smiled, which was the reaction she was pretty used to getting now. 

Gigi didn’t necessarily have an office but the ‘Public Relations’ room was hers and everyone knew it. She had a team of people who helped her but they found themselves in the ‘team room’, which was basically one big office, separate from her all day. Gigi wasn’t a team player unless she was the leader, which was the only reason she tolerated having a team to work with. 

The desk in the Public Relations room had been taken over with Gigi’s books and stationary, which was her way of marking her territory. She might as well have written her name on the wooden surface. Even though the room wasn’t owned by anyone, Crystal still felt sick knowing who would be in it. When she reached the door she needed, it was closed. Normally this wasn’t a problem, but it now meant Crystal had to knock and she wasn’t even sure Gigi wanted to see her after last night. She might’ve embarrassed herself even more than Bri had. Still, she knocked and announced herself, deciding to give Gigi warning of her approach. 

“Come in.” 

Crystal opened the door, too nervous to remember to close it, and didn’t even greet Gigi once she’d walked in. She decided she would let Gigi make the next move so she could figure out where she stood. 

Gigi was pacing against the wall furthest from Crystal, a pen in one hand. Her laptop was propped open but it didn’t look as though Gigi had actually used it this morning. She was even taller in her stiletto heels and Crystal wondered how anyone could move so graceful in them. Even the models didn’t do it like Gigi. 

“I see you posted, that’s good. It’s good to do it slowly. You don’t want to start posting lots because it makes you look guilty,” said Gigi, getting straight to business as she always did. 

“You stalked me?” 

“It’s my job to have your post notifications on,” shrugged Gigi, “so yes, sort of. If you get Brianna or Monet to post things and you share it, it’ll look much better for you. Like you aren’t trying too hard to have fun. Keep up that dynamic you have going on.” 

Crystal leaned against the wall, folding her arms across her chest, “Good, I’ll let them know you like it.”

Gigi frowned. 

“You’re quiet,” she said, “normally you get sort of awkward and start talking loads by now.” 

“You’ve only known me for a day.”

“People don’t change.” 

“Did Violet hire me a therapist by accident?” Crystal answered, aggravated. 

“I assume you’re embarrassed?” asked Gigi, careful to keep her voice level and deadpan. 

“No, are you?” 

Gigi’s sharp eyes narrowed, but otherwise didn’t show any emotion. It infuriated Crystal. 

“What do I have to be embarrassed about? I had about three drinks and had to drag you and your friends home.” 

“Drag me home! Bri was a little drunk, sure, but I was fine!” 

“Evidently not.” 

Crystal tensed. So, it was clear Gigi did remember everything that happened. Which wasn’t ideal. The very familiar feeling of regret flooded her stomach and chest, as it usually did when she’d had too much to drink. 

“I thought we could just pretend last night didn’t happen, but fine, let’s talk about it. You’re upset because I invited you inside, aren’t you? Look- I didn’t mean anything weird by it. I was just drunk. We’re professionals, it shouldn’t matter” 

Now this Gigi did react to. Her cheeks, even though they were contoured and highlighted, blushed a furious red. As if it was a subconscious decision, her arms folded over each other like when you hug yourself to keep warm. 

“We lost that professionalism the second I saw you in Heavens. But, no, it doesn’t matter what you meant. The problem is you being reckless after our meeting. Did it not sink in how dire this situation is? One of the conditions of working with me is you have to do as I say.” 

“I know, it was Monet and Bri’s idea. I-I didn’t know where we were going.” 

“Well next time,” said Gigi bitterly, “turn around and go home.” 

“Okay,” Crystal said coolly, “I won’t bother you again. But the only photos were posted by Monet and Bri and almost all of the comments are positive. No one has a clue where we were. So, don’t be mad, your plan worked.” 

Crystal understood why Gigi was angry. She was on a defensive edge; Crystal had gotten to know her more personally than Gigi had ever wanted. She remembered what Violet had said, about holding all your cards to your chest. Crystal had seen all of Gigi’s cards now, and it was clear that the woman didn’t trust her at all. And even though Gigi had said otherwise, Crystal was sure she’d made her uncomfortable last night. 

“We’re not done,” said Gigi very matter-of-factly, “you don’t have to like me for me to do my job.” 

“Why would you want to save my career if you don’t like me?”

“Firstly, I never said I didn’t like you. Second, it’s what I get paid to do.” 

“Oh,” mumbled Crystal, “of course.” 

Gigi seemed to feel a little guilty about her choice of words because she moved swiftly away from the conversation. The door had been open, and neither of them wanted anyone else in the department hearing their squabble. Gigi went to close the door and then, with a distance between herself and Crystal, spoke again. 

“I told you about Shea choosing the next cover model, didn’t I? I spoke with her this morning and the agency is bringing some of them to meet with us today. I know they’ll be some big names there so it’ll be good for you to make a lasting impression. Obviously, you’ll have met most of the models anyway, but Shea still wants your advice.” 

“Does she have a front runner?” asked Crystal. 

Gigi shook her head, “No, she doesn’t even think she’ll want to choose the models from today. Fresh face, she said. Still, it’s good for her to narrow it down.” 

“It’ll always be the last one you expect with Shea,” agreed Crystal. 

Shea had always been like that. She was a firm favourite when she’d been released into the public eye, and Crystal even remembered being given gifts to pass along to the model. Men would wait outside for her, offering her dates and new ‘modelling opportunities’ which, obviously, she wouldn’t take. 

It came as a surprise to all of them when Shea began to spend more and more time with the Art Director. Sasha was in charge of choosing colour schemes, illustrations, photographs and, really, didn’t have much business with Shea. But the pair were together constantly. It wasn’t a month later when Shea announced they were dating. Why Shea had chosen the shy, weird, artsy woman was a mystery to anyone on the outside. But to Crystal, who considered Shea a friend, she saw just what the woman had needed. And that had been Sasha. 

“Do you want to go wait for them in reception? They should be here now,” offered Gigi. 

“You’re coming too?” 

“The cover model is a huge deal for public relations too.” 

“Oh, right.” 

Gigi led the way, as she always did. Crystal had never moved so much and so quickly before. She’d gotten pretty used to the desk job and even the meetings she had were largely all taken place at her desk anyway. She certainly never had to run around like this and decided that was how Gigi stayed so slim. 

They walked up the stairs, with several people greeting Gigi and asking her opinion on things when they walked past. It nearly made Crystal laugh, wondering how someone could be the real-life cliché of a business woman in a cheesy film. 

“Shea just text me,” said Gigi, who’d been looking at her phone since they reached the top of the stairs, “she says she’s here with the models.” 

“Did she say who she’s brought?” 

Gigi shook her head, “No, she didn’t. I’m just hoping it’s not Courtney. If the Chief finds out she and Willam are both here, he’ll kill me.” 

It was weird for Crystal to not see Bri or Monet sitting on the reception desk, but she supposed it was a good thing today. She couldn’t face their teasing, not with Gigi in the room as well. 

When Gigi and Crystal found themselves in the reception, it was empty aside from those in the meeting, and had clearly been cleared out by someone. It was nice to find the room empty; it meant Crystal could hear herself think. 

The only conversations came from the models, who were talking amongst themselves. Crystal could see Shea standing in the middle of them. 

Every time Crystal saw Shea, she was reminded of what she was drawn to. The first time they’d met had been in May when Violet had asked Crystal to meet with some of the models that had walked in their spring runway. It had taken twenty minutes with Shea for her to decide that no one else would compare. With the beauty for the photographs and the charisma for the feature, it was announced that Shea would be their cover model the next day. Shea wasn’t a part of Tchotchke, models only worked with the company through part-time contacts, but she is usually seen in the building. Partly because of Sasha and partly because everyone wants to work with her. 

Her hair was braided back into a bun, she liked it out of the way, paired with white jeans and a black sweatshirt. It was strange to see Shea in anything other than bodysuits and dresses and Crystal often forgot that she existed outside of her photographs. She wasn’t wearing much makeup, her freckles dotted over clear skin, but her eyes were still sharpened with heavy eyeliner. 

If there was a goddess, and they lived and breathed in America, they’d take the form of Shea Coulee. That was saying a lot considering the people Crystal was surrounded by daily were also works of art, but Shea was a canvas carried differently. She had no time to feel insecure, though, because she found herself watching Sasha walk through the door from her office and into reception. Shea practically shouted the woman’s name, running over to her. They grinned, and Shea crashed into her girlfriend. It was like Shea hadn’t seen her girlfriend in weeks. That was the thing about Shea; she lit up the room so effortlessly, that you couldn’t feel bitter when you looked at her. 

There was something magical in the way Shea and Sasha were around each other. Crystal was confident that the two of them weren’t aware of anyone else in the room. Obviously both professionals, they stole their affection in tiny glances and touches, like the ones of passing strangers. Shea’s hand would drift to Sasha’s waist and Sasha would hold Shea’s wrist for just a second when she said something funny. Even when others came to join the couple, the pair only moved closer together. Shea had a smile on her face which only grew when Sasha’s hand rested on the small of her back, just like it belonged there. 

Crystal only knew two of the models standing around Sasha and Shea. There were four talking to Shea, each obviously knowing the woman quite well. The tall woman with blonde braids, pushing a much shorter redhead was called Yvie. She’d been featured in the magazine plenty of times but hadn’t yet been on the cover. She, like Sasha, was a creative; and Crystal wouldn’t be surprised if Sasha had been the one to invite her along. Sasha often took models under her wing. The unfortunate victim of Yvie’s, who luckily found the attack hilarious, was someone Crystal hadn’t met yet. She spied the others, trying to make out who looked friendly and who didn’t. 

One woman had her black hair in two perfect buns on the top of her head, not one strand out of place despite the way her head rolled back when she laughed. Her pale blue eyeshadow radiated against her darker skin, definitely a look inspired by Shea herself. Gold statement earrings and a pale yellow crop top made her stand out against the crowds of black and white. 

“I bet Shea’s enamoured with her,” breathed Crystal. She noticed Gigi’s jaw clench.

“She could be the ‘fresh face’ Shea was talking about,” suggested Gigi, though her tone said otherwise. 

“Actually,” grinned the woman after dramatically whipping around to face Crystal, “the cover girl isn’t here. You and I both know that.” 

She came bouncing over to Crystal and Gigi, an excited skip in her step that most models definitely didn’t possess. There was nothing graceful about it, or the lopsided grin on the woman’s stunning face, but Crystal was in love with her already. 

“You must be Crystal, right? And Gigi?” asked the woman. They both nodded. 

With the model’s excitement to meet them both, the other models from the opposite end of the room had begun to notice Gigi and Crystal. They walked over slowly, knowing that the two newcomers had influence over who was chosen by Shea. Shea herself had walked over with the first model to say hello. Crystal hadn’t noticed her approach until she felt a light touch from beside her. 

Shea tapped Crystal’s shoulder, “This is Monique. She thinks I’m playing favourites.” 

Monique scoffed, “Girl, if you weren’t in Sasha’s bed I know you’d be trying to get in Jaida’s.” 

When Shea’s embarrassed chuckle died down, Crystal frowned, “Yeah, Shea, where is Jaida?” 

Shea shrugged, “She’s in demand now. She said she’d stop by at some point to talk about it, so you never know. But for now, I’m stuck with this lot.” 

“It’s always nice to be runner up,” grinned a girl with a strong accent from beside Shea. Tall, blonde, beautiful…Crystal knew immediately who it was. She couldn’t wait to tell Willam. Gigi looked about as pleased as she knew Willam would. 

Shea turned to Crystal, “You know Courtney and Yvie, you’ve just met Monique…and this is Vanessa.” 

“You’re that girl,” Vanessa gestured to Crystal. 

“TV girl,” Yvie said, as if to confirm Vanessa’s statement. 

“That’s the one,” Crystal laughed awkwardly. 

“Shit, if you can’t make friends with someone, they must be the devil,” said Vanessa, making a whistling sound. 

“Not even Crystal can work miracles girl, that man’s a piece of shit,” said Yvie. 

“So, which one do you like?” Shea asked eagerly. Yvie, Monique, Courtney and Vanessa all turned to look at Crystal, waiting for her to say their names. 

“You haven’t even said hi yet,” laughed Crystal. 

“Crys! Sorry girl,” beamed Shea, “it’s so good to see you again. I’m so glad you’re gonna help me out…honestly, I was feeling a bit out of my depth. To be real honest, bitch, I’m drowning.” 

Crystal laughed, “If anyone’s got this, it’s you.” 

“That’s what Sasha keeps saying, but she worries so much I know she’s lying to keep me sane. Have you two met?” 

Sasha was keeping a distance, unsure of how friendly Crystal would be towards her after the disciplinary meeting, but truthfully, she was happy to see the older woman again. She smiled warmly and Sasha took that as a peace offering. 

Sasha walked over after hearing her name and nodded, “We met on Monday. I got banned from the next meetings for agreeing with her.” 

Shea rolled her eyes, “A gay woman agreeing that she should be talked to like a person? That’s the gays for you, always have an opinion on things that don’t concern them.” 

Crystal was shocked that they spoke so openly. There was no hesitation in their words, no lowered volume or euphemisms. She almost felt like they weren’t allowed to talk like that at work and was waiting for someone to come and give them a warning. It took a while for her brain to comprehend that no one was remotely concerned by the relationship, and she felt a strong pang of resentment when she realised her own love life would be scrutinised like a bug under a magnifying glass in the sun. That was, if she had a relationship. 

“It’s nice to see you again,” smiled Sasha, breaking Crystal from her thoughts, “you look a lot less nervous this time.” 

“She keeps it on the inside now,” shrugged Gigi, making Shea laugh. 

“I know someone else like that,” said Shea, nudging her girlfriend with nothing but fondness in the jab of her elbow. 

“It’s a trait of the greats,” said Sasha, a proud hand on Crystal’s shoulder.

“You never answered her question,” Yvie pointed out. 

Crystal shrugged, “Jaida.” 

Vanessa cackled, “Shady! I like her!” 

“How’d you and Monique get into modelling, then?” asked Crystal. She knew Courtney had been some sort of influencer first, mainly YouTube she thought, and Yvie had just happened to audition at the right time. The other models often got jealous because she was chosen after just one audition, or so Yvie said. 

“I make dumb videos and one went viral. I was approached by a different agency but I switched when I was offered more money. Glad I did, that place went bust and now I’m tryin’ to convince my lovely friend to put me on the cover of Tchotchke,” said Vanessa. 

“Not gonna work,” tutted Shea. 

“I just auditioned,” shrugged Monique, “I didn’t have any followers or nothing. Just charisma and beauty.” 

“Straight up delusion,” scoffed Vanessa, earning herself a shove. 

“Can y’all not do that?” she huffed once she’d steadied herself. 

“Have you worked on anything before?” asked Gigi, tired of the childish giggles coming from the models. 

Monique looked intimidated, “Uh, I’ve done a couple of adverts and promotional stuff.” 

“I was on the cover of a magazine in California, but it was before we signed the contract with Tchotchke. I was in an Australian music video too,” said Courtney, avoiding eye contact with Gigi. 

“Vine paid me to do some videos once,” shrugged Vanessa. 

“Obviously we’ve all been in Tchotchke before,” said Yvie when Gigi looked unconvinced, “that’s why Shea chose us, you know, because we have experience. Plus, we’ve worked with most of the photographers and editors before.” 

“Does that mean you’ve narrowed it down, Shea?” asked Crystal. 

“Not really… I wanted to meet with you all and everything, but I also wanted to talk to you in person. When Crys chose me for the cover, we had a big press event and it did wonders for sales. There was double the press and television coverage for the runways and fashion collections too. So, I talked to Violet and she says, if Gigi agrees, we should run another event. You know, a bar, a hall, maybe a catwalk, all the works,” said Shea, excitedly. 

Gigi thought about it, “I think it’ll be a good thing after the negative news coverage we’ve had recently.” 

Crystal groaned internally. She always hated work parties, whether it was for Christmas, New Years, anniversaries or edition releases. She knew from the minute everyone started talking about Shea’s ‘gala’, she’d have to endure another one. It was a night where she’d have no one to talk to, would feel too awkward to drink, and be surrounded by models in designer gowns who’d all had their hair and makeup professionally done. It was never how she wanted to spend an evening and the thought of it made her shudder. It would be more bearable if Monet and Bri were invited, but she doubted they would be. 

“Stunning! It’s been too long since we’ve been invited to anything fancy,” said Monique, her eyes sparkling.

“Only some of us will be getting invited,” said Yvie, side-eying Courtney, who glared daggers. 

“What do you think, Crystal?” asked Shea, watching how her face changed. 

“Huh? Oh, I think it’ll be fun but I’m still nervous about doing any public appearances.” 

Gigi looked over to her, “Hey, we’ve still got lots of work to do before the party would even happen. You’ll be safe again then.” 

“So much for a dire situation,” mumbled Crystal, earning herself a glare. 

Sasha and Shea exchanged a look. 

“You’ll be fine! Don’t let a man ruin your fun! Y’all will be drinking and dancing so hard you won’t even remember he exists,” reassured Vanessa. 

“Just don’t make a speech about how much you hate him, write it in your notes and pull it out when you’re drunk to a group of journalists who, if they didn’t work with you, would post it all over the internet,” said Yvie. 

“Like what happened with you and Nutmeg?” asked Shea.

“She told me my mum spelt ‘Evie’ wrong, the fucking girl is named after a nut.” 

“Nutmeg’s a spice,” laughed Vanessa. 

“It’s actually a seed,” interjected Sasha. 

Yvie threw up her hands in exasperation, “It’s a fucking stupid name, that’s what it is!” 

Gigi rolled her eyes, “So, anyway, Shea, when do you plan on holding this? You know the planning and publicity take such a long time to organise.” 

Shea nodded, “I mean, September’s issue is already being printed and distributed and Trinity’s in charge of marketing that event, whatever it is. Knowing her, it’ll be a fancy dinner or something with just her and the Chief. We’ve got month’s to make this one amazing.” 

Gigi sighed, “The day I let other people sort out their own events was the day this place turned into a circus. I’m making Trinity check in with me even if her event is private and invite only, which we all know it will be, so I expect you to do the same.”

“Yes boss,” said Shea, saluting her friend, “the girls and I were going out for lunch to talk about the event. Do you two want to join us?” 

“Come on Crystal, there’s so much I wanna ask you,” said Monique. 

“I don’t answer questions in public anymore,” Crystal teased, making the models laugh. 

“We’d love to, Shea, but we have some things we still need to discuss. You can have her back when you’re done, though, you need Crystal’s approval as much as mine,” said Gigi. 

“Don’t I know it! She ripped me to shreds before she let any photographers near me,” said Shea. 

“I needed to know you weren’t just a pretty face.” 

“Oh, girl, you love this pretty face. You love it so much you let America have it,” Shea exclaimed, posing her hands in the same way she did in the final cover photograph. Crystal loved this and pretended to be the photographer, showering the model in sarcastic praise. 

Sasha found the whole thing hilarious, but Gigi was less convinced. 

“Enough messing around. Shea, you know you can give me a call if you need anything.” 

“See you after lunch!” Crystal called. 

Crystal looked apologetically at Shea when Gigi began to lead her out of the reception. She gave a sheepish wave to the models, who were all mostly too excited about lunch to feel any of the tension in the room. Before she turned around, she saw Sasha link arms with Shea as they walked behind the gaggle of women. 

Crystal jogged a little to catch up with Gigi, “So, there was something you wanted to talk to me about?” 

“Violet told me to fetch you. She wants a word.” 

“You didn’t tell me in front of the others because you think it’s bad news?” 

Gigi shook her head, “Honestly, I think she just wants to check in on you. But she was pretty insistent. She said to have your lunch and then go to her office.” 

“O-okay.” 

Now a little shaken up, Crystal had barely noticed that Gigi had walked right past the stairs to her own department. When Gigi walked past the stairs, Crystal frowned. It wasn’t until they turned the corner that Crystal remembered there was an elevator there. 

“I kinda forgot we had one,” said Crystal. 

“You don’t have much use for it, I suppose. I figured you wouldn’t use it to come to Public Relations since Bri isn’t a big fan of small spaces so she probably took you down the stairs.”

Crystal thought it was nice that Gigi knew so much about the employees she pretended she didn’t care about. It made her blush thinking about how Gigi noted the small things about a person, stuff she usually forgot, and she wondered what the woman had picked up about her already. The next time she looked at Gigi, Gigi was already looking straight back at her. 

“What?” said Crystal, her head tilted slightly so she could take in Gigi’s expression. 

Gigi swiftly dropped her eyes’ focus to a window that Crystal had barely noticed before. The view was much nicer than Crystal was used to; looking out onto a green park as opposed to a busy, noisy road. Crystal thought that Gigi was looking at the dog chasing a ball not too far away from the windowsill but, judging by how glassy and vacant her stare was, she hadn’t even realised the animal was there. 

“Just now, with the models, it was the first time I saw you not doubt yourself. You normally look so anxious…I don’t know, it was nice.” 

Trying to hide her blush, Crystal walked towards the elevator and pressed the button for Gigi. She was too scared of them to use one herself, but she figured Gigi liked to save time. She found herself waiting with Gigi for the elevator to open up, wondering if the other woman found it weird. When it did eventually ‘ding’ and open for Gigi, Crystal watched her go. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Maybe. Depends on what Violet wants. And…thank you.” 

To be fair, Crystal hadn’t even been sure if Gigi was complimenting her or not earlier. Her tone barely softened when she spoke, and everything she said had a hint of criticism. But judging by the way it made her felt, she was sure it had to have been.

“Confidence looks good on you,” said Gigi just before she disappeared behind the door of metal, again without a change in her tone, but leaving Crystal feeling giddy.


	6. Upstairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read, this chapter is quite intense. So this is a trigger warning for anxiety, panic attacks and harassment. I will never go into explicit detail but it is heavy and will be a theme in multiple chapters. Please keep yourselves safe. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this so far! I'm really enjoying it and I hope you are to. If you want a chat or anything, you can follow me @djoodimattel on Tumblr or my writing account, @theartificialluci. :)

The words ‘looks good’ and ‘on you’ swirled around in Crystal’s head like they were going through the washing machine of her mind. From the very little she already knew about Gigi, she didn’t think she gave out many compliments. Maybe that was just what she wanted to believe, but deep down she was sure she was right. 

She told herself she was a people pleaser, and any compliment from anyone of authority gave her a rush of adrenaline. What she didn’t want to address, however, was how different this felt to, say, when her teachers shared her work with the class. She figured she was more grown up now, so of course it would be different. 

Still, when she walked from the elevator which, now, she looked weird standing next to, her whole body was shaking with excitement. She didn’t even take a second to dwell on whatever Violet wanted. Instead, she found herself walking into reception without much thought of anything except the same four words.

“The models were beautiful,” commented the receptionist when Crystal smiled at her. 

“It’s going to be a tough choice.” 

“I think you should have two women on the cover. You know, it would get the issue talked about and, with everything going on, would be good to see,” the receptionist seemed to regret her words the second they fell from her mouth. 

“You know, I think that’s a pretty good idea,” said Crystal, grinning. The receptionist found herself smiling too but kept her head low and started to work on whatever she’d been neglecting when the models had arrived. 

In incredibly high spirits, Crystal waved goodbye to the young girl sitting at her friend’s desk, who wasn’t used to people talking to her, and was happy to be listened to. Not that Crystal was very focused on her idea, as much as she liked it. 

It felt strange to her, since last time she’d been down this corridor had been when she was fearing for her life. Not literally, of course, but pretty much. 

Instead of following the corridor all the way down to the meeting room as she had done before, she stopped at another door labelled, ‘Editor’. She tried hard to be silent as she stood outside the offices. She knew Sasha was with Shea but she really didn’t want to risk bumping into Raja. Even her knock on the door was as quiet as she could make it. 

“It’s Crystal,” she announced after the knock. She paused, giving Violet a minute before pushing open the door. 

Violet was sitting at her desk, laptop pulled up in front of her. She was writing an email, or something like that, from what Crystal could see. Her face was twisted in concentration and Crystal wasn’t even convinced Violet had seen her. There were a few magazines on her desk, mostly Tchotchke but a few Vogue ones too, and a vibrant red lipstick rested on top of the pile. Crystal’s eyes were drawn to the issue of Tchotchke framed above the desk, which had a beautiful Violet on the cover. At the time she must’ve been barely an adult, maybe not even old enough to drink, considering how young she still was. 

“Hi, Violet, you wanted to see me?” 

Violet looked up from her laptop, seeing the nervous girl ahead of her. She had a coffee in her hand and she put it down on the pile of magazines, which made Crystal cringe. Now, with her hands free to gesture, Violet beckoned Crystal over. 

“Not really-” 

“Oh, but Gigi-Miss Goode, said you wanted to talk to me about something.” 

“You didn’t let me finish. I’m not the one who wants to see you but someone else does.”

Violet didn’t look that pleased to see Crystal, which made her worry slightly. Granted, they weren’t exactly friends but they weren’t too far apart in age and Violet always seemed more relaxed when the journalist was around. She didn’t have to keep up the guarded, professional appearance of the editors and directors. Today though, Violet sat with posture that almost looked painful and a smile didn’t cross her face. Crystal knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, nothing new at least, so she wondered what was bothering the woman. 

“Do you mean Shea? I was actually going to meet her for lunch with the models but Miss Goode said to come here instead.” 

Violet looked conflicted, “How were the models? When I spoke to Shea, she didn’t seem any surer. She still wants to go ahead with her event.” 

“Yeah, I really like Monique but I don’t think Shea’s convinced. It looks to me like she still has her heart set on Jaida. I bet she’ll invite her along and try to convince her to do it.” 

“We’d all like to have Jaida back,” agreed Violet, “but Shea shouldn’t put all her eggs in one basket.” 

“It’s hard when you know what you want. I really think this whole party is for Jaida and Shea will shut it down as soon as she says yes. Or no. But I hope it’s yes.” 

“Jaida and Monique are class acts, they can behave themselves. I doubt the others will even be in the running once they have a drink. Models are so rowdy. I guess they’re so skinny it only takes a shot or two.” 

“You would know,” Crystal pointed out. 

“That’s precisely why I don’t drink.” 

Crystal hummed. But when the silence fell, she remembered that she hadn’t been brought along to have a meaningless discussion about the models she’d just met. In fact, Violet hadn’t even confirmed that Shea was even the person who wanted to see her. 

“Was…was it Shea who wants to see me then?” she asked. 

There was a change in Violet’s expression. It wasn’t so hardened as it was before. It was the face someone made just before they told you something about them, a secret or confession. The look in Violet’s eyes, considering Crystal doesn’t even know her middle name, is a scary one. 

“No, Crystal, it wasn’t. The new receptionist, whatever her name is, called to tell me you’ve been requested upstairs.” 

Crystal’s heart sank. It was a floor with only two offices; one for the man in charge and one for his assistant. There was a staircase hidden behind at the end of all the other offices, like it was not meant to be walked up. In fairness, Crystal thought that was basically true. The whole thing creeped her out a lot.

“To see the Chief? But I’ve never been up there. Even when he interviewed me it was downstairs.” 

“It’s fine up there, I’ve only been a few times myself. Don’t panic. If he was firing you he’d have to tell me about it first, so it’s not that.” 

Still, Violet looked the opposite of relieved. 

“Honestly, he didn’t want me to know much about it. I tried to ask what it was concerning, but he wasn’t having any of it. It’s not unheard of, sometimes he likes to have certain people talk over ideas with him. But I’d go now if I were you.” 

Crystal was about to walk towards the door but she stopped, “I don’t even know where I’m going.” 

“Follow the corridor past all our offices. Then just turn right. You’ll see his assistant when you get to the top floor and she’ll show you where to go.” 

Crystal nodded, not even sure she’d heard a word of what Violet had said. This time, she did make her way to the exit but once the door had opened, Violet stopped her. 

“You don’t have to tell me what he wants, obviously, but I’m here if you want to discuss anything.” 

“I know that.” 

“Okay, good. I’ll see you later.” 

“Bye, Violet.” 

Closing the door after her, Crystal walked silently passed the offices next to Violet’s. There was no sound coming from Raja’s door, which relieved her, so she managed to walk past without any instances. The meeting room door was closed so Crystal assumed either her or Trinity were in there. Once she heard southern shouting followed by a peel of laughter, she came to her conclusion. 

She tried to remember what Violet had said, as she couldn’t remember if it was left or right, but as soon as she came to the crossroads she found just the one flight of stairs. It was dimly lit at the end of the corridor, which was unusual since it was basically the stairway to Heaven in this company, but Crystal supposed not many people went up them. She’d never seen the Chief come down them. Maybe he had a secret elevator, or something. She was more than happy to take the stairs, though, even though her legs ached just thinking about it. They’d still not properly recovered from her night out. 

At the top of the stairs, Crystal was greeted by a sort of hallway. It was white and minimalist, with just a large potted plant in the corner. There were three doors; one labelled as a bathroom and the other two a mystery. 

Someone had obviously heard her footsteps because the door to her right opened and a woman smiled at her. The woman had an earpiece in, which would’ve been hidden by her black, hair-sprayed curls if they hadn’t been pulled to one side. Probably, Crystal assumed, to show off the huge gold earrings. 

“Hi, Crystal, it’s a pleasure to meet you! I don’t think we’ve met before, my name’s Michelle. Now, the Chief told me to expect you. His door is just the one in front of us. He doesn’t like labels; he says he wants this place to feel more like a home than an office. So, I thought I’d show you where to go. Just head straight in, he’s waiting for you.” 

“Thank you, Michelle,” said Crystal, conjuring a smile. 

“Would you like anything to drink? We’ve got just about anything here.” 

“Water would be lovely, thanks.” 

Michelle disappeared into her own office to fetch a glass of water. Crystal waited for her return before she went to find the Chief. The assistant came back with cold, ice water in a Tchotchke mug that Crystal didn’t even know the company had. Michelle carried the mug in while Crystal pushed the door open. 

“Chief?” said Michelle, placing the mug onto a glass coffee table in the office, “Crystal’s here to see you.” 

The Chief was only ever to be addressed as such. Even in interviews or television appearances, which he did many of, it was the same rule. Mr Charles was the name given if he were in a meeting with people on his level, but his first name was never spoken. He was a man who preferred to be a symbol, and a first name never fit into his idea of himself. The male designer was incredibly charismatic and started to create dresses when he was a young teenager. He graduated from his Fashion degree with a first and had his first, professional design in Vogue. Since then, he’d become a celebrity and his career paid off Tchotchke buildings around the world. 

The name, Tchotchke, was a take on his assistant’s name at the time, Violet Chachki, who was a part-time model as well. He’d built his empire but took a step back from fashion, choosing instead to become a television personality. Violet never minded, though, because it meant she got to run the company as she wanted to. 

He stood waiting for her, wearing a suit of his own design. Pearl-white teeth flashed at her as she went to shake his hand. His grip lingered a little longer than she would’ve liked before he dropped her hand carefully and invited his assistant to leave. 

“I wanted to talk to the journalist, not the model,” said the Chief his lips curling slightly into a smile. 

“Uh, I am the journalist, it’s Crystal, Sir.” 

The Chief laughed, “I know, Crystal. With hair like that, how could I forget who you are?” 

“Oh, well thank you. It was probably quite a bit longer last time you saw it.” 

The Chief nodded, “Would you like to come and take a seat?” 

His office, of course, had a great big desk against a large window with a view of the city. It was probably the size of all the offices downstairs put together. This meant he had room for unnecessary things like fish tanks and modes of his famous cat walks. He did have a large L-shaped couch adjacent to his desk, cream with red cushions on each section. It was this that he gestured for Crystal to sit on, not the chair opposite his desk. With only a minor hesitation, she did so, and he sat down beside her. 

“How are you, Crystal?” asked the Chief. 

“Very well thank you. Yourself?” 

“Just fine. I heard we had the models over today, did you like Shea’s choices?” 

Crystal nodded eagerly, “The girls are all perfect. I knew Shea would be able to find someone with the personality for a front page. After all, that’s what I loved about her.” 

The Chief made a sound of approval but wasn’t too interested in listening to Crystal gush about Shea. 

“It’s lovely to see you again Crystal, it’s been such a long time. Too long.” 

Crystal put nervous hands in her lap, “I’m sure you’re very busy, Sir. We all appreciate how hard you work.” 

“There’s a lot to organise, that’s true. But I worked so hard to start this company, there’s no point taking it easy now. This place means so much more what it was made from nothing, Crystal. So, you can understand how hard it is to see people talking bad about it. I’m used to people not understanding me, but Tchotchke? I just can’t bare it.” 

Crystal was starting to sweat now, “I know, Sir. The last thing I wanted was to affect Tchotchke, or you. I promise I’m working so hard to fix everything. Miss Goode has been brilliant.” 

The Chief nodded, “You’re not here to talk about Georgina. I want to talk about you. Now, my advisors said it would be easier for me to let you go. But listen, Crystal, one thing I’ve learnt in my time here is that you should never let good people go. And, besides, we’re a family here, aren’t we?” 

“Of course, we are,” agreed Crystal, feeling only slightly more at ease. It didn’t help that her knees were practically brushing against the Chief’s now. 

“I’m so glad you think that,” beamed the Chief, “but, I have to be honest with you. Life’s not all sunshine and rainbows, is it? Being a good person isn’t always enough. To me, at least, you have to be driven and loyal.” 

“I think being driven and loyal is part of being a good person.”

With a fond chuckle, the Chief’s hand came down onto Crystal’s knee. The action wasn’t enough to make her flinch but his fingers had fixed around her knee like a vice. It wasn’t painful, but it was growing more uncomfortable with each second. Crystal tried not to look at the action, pretending like she hadn’t even noticed. 

“That was the perfect answer, Miss Methyd. And you know what, you’re so right. And I know you’re a good person, but I really have to believe it if you’re going to keep your job. Really, there’s a lot of people who don’t think the work can be done. But I know it can be. We just have to agree that you’re going to show me.” 

“I really need this job, Sir. I’m so passionate about it and I really think we all make a difference. I’d be so devastated if I had to leave. I’m here to prove that I can do better.” 

“You know, desperation really does turn into inspiration,” murmured the Chief. 

Crystal wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but she felt it rude to question him. Especially after he was showing how much he cared about her. She’d thought before that he only really cared about the fame, but now she felt guilty. Tchotchke clearly meant a lot to him. She had to hope that he was right, and that she really could fix her mistakes. 

Then, his hand which had previously been so protective on her knee, loosened its hold. Crystal was only relieved for a moment. It spanned out until it was spread across the top of Crystal’s knee. His palm pushed down on her leg and she was sure he’d immobilised it. Her breathing hitched when his hand moved from the top of her knee up towards her thigh. It stopped half-way up, but his thumb stroked the material of her jumpsuit.

Her body had completely frozen. In her head, all she wanted to do was run. It was like in a dream when you tried to scream for help but your mouth was full of cotton or sewn shut. She didn’t stand a chance. His eyes were watching her so longingly that Crystal wasn’t even sure she’d be able to escape. Her own eyes squeezed shut when his hand moved around to the side of her thigh, dangerously close to the curves just above it. 

Then, by some miracle, he took his hand away. She jumped to her feet and turned as if she were about to run away, but a nagging voice in her head told her it would be dangerous to turn her back now. Instead, she kept a distance between them, his touch lingering like a burn on her skin, praying that she’d be excused. 

“I can’t convince everyone that you’re driven and loyal forever. You need to show me. I’ll give you time to think about it.” 

He stood up to join her. When he approached she held her breath, but it was apparent that he was now done with her. For the moment, at least. He walked past her and reached for the very heavy and solid door to his office. Her legs trembling, Crystal hurried towards the door. Before she had time to walk through, he caught a curl of her red hair in his hand. It fell from his grasp when she marched past the assistant’s office and down the stairs. 

Crystal only made it half way down the stairs when her legs decided they couldn’t carry her any more. They’d turned to jelly and she’d had no choice but to sit down on the hard, cold steps and steady herself. Tears had begun to well in her eyes but she’d only noticed when the first one had fallen and blurred her vision. 

The swollen, tight feeling in her throat only made breathing more difficult than it had already been. She still felt the ghost of his touch creeping up and down her leg and soon sitting still became too much for her. At least if she was walking the numbness of her legs and the ache as she climbed down the steps she wouldn’t feel the Chief. 

Luckily, the meeting room, Trinity’s office and Raja’s office all had their doors closed. Violet’s was slightly ajar and Crystal knew the woman was waiting to hear all about what had just happened. Instead, she just stormed past the door. She walked past the nice receptionist without even a greeting because by now the world around her was tilted at an angle and it felt like her eyesight had been warped. She wondered how much longer she could go before she tripped or fell. 

Just as she’d managed to escape the reception and make her way into the corridor, despite not being sure where she was going, a cacophony of giggles and chatter came from the security front-room. The sound was getting closer and the source was nearly in reception. They’d notice her before she had a chance to run away. Again, she was a deer in the headlights. 

Crystal tried to hide in the shadows of the corridor, but Shea spotted her from a mile away. She’d obviously been wanting to see the journalist anyway. 

God, now the models were all watching her have a meltdown. None of them had noticed, though, all buzzing from lunch and the few cocktails they almost definitely consumed. Crystal clenched her fists to try and make the trembling in her fingers less obvious. Shea grinned at her but Crystal couldn’t even try and return it. 

“Crys,” said Shea cheerfully, her models not far behind her. 

The walls already felt like they were edging closer and closer; seeing the group gather around her only made them come faster. Shea seemed to pick up on the distress and asked the girls to step outside. Crystal couldn’t be sure what Shea had said to them because her ears were only picking up the deafening thud of her heart, like her ear was pressed up against a shell and waves were crashing into her drums. Shea noticed that something was off but she wasn’t that sure what, so she kept pressing. 

“Do you want to come say bye to the girls? Unless they come for a shoot you probably won’t see them until the party.” 

Shea’s hand went to Crystal’s shoulder, which wasn’t an unfamiliar gesture from the kind, friendly woman, but it felt so foreign this time. Crystal couldn’t stand the feel of someone else’s hand on her skin, even if it was separated by fabric. She shrugged Shea off her and took a step back, which she hadn’t meant to do. 

Shea, to her credit, didn’t question why Crystal suddenly wanted space, but a concerned frown formed slowly as she watched the journalist’s flushed face. Her eyes were still scanning the four walls, as if waiting for them to make their final move. 

Crystal couldn’t even look at her friend in the eyes. She didn’t want anyone to look at her. All she wanted was to be alone. She knew that if someone tried to talk her out of the rabbit hole she was slipping down, then she’d tell them what had just happened. Suddenly losing her job wasn’t something she was worried about any more. No, the Chief would do much worse than cost her a job if she outed him like that. All this was racing around her head while Shea tried to talk to her and she was trying to concentrate but she couldn’t and it became so, so frustrating. She must’ve looked like she was about to explode because Shea was looking even more confused by the second. Crystal barely noticed, though, because the sound of her breathing and her thundering heartbeat was blocking out her vision now, too. 

“Do you want to sit down? I can walk you to the bathroom?” Shea offered, her voice much gentler this time. She didn’t motion to help Crystal by holding her waist or linking her arm like she wanted to.

“It’s fine. I have to go. Say goodbye for me.” 

Crystal stumbled away like she was drunk, not looking back to see if Shea was following her. Shea had thought about it but decided that she wouldn’t be much use. She made a mental note to text someone to go and check on her. 

There were plenty of places Crystal could go. Firstly, and arguably the most appealing, she could walk out of the front door and never come back. Secondly, she could sit in the toilets until the work day ends and hand in her resignation the next day. Or, she could pretend none of that had happened and crawl back to Shea. They could laugh and plan the grand event and Crystal could tell the model she’d had a bad stomach or something. 

Maybe if Crystal felt okay at all, she could’ve done that. But she felt like she was going to collapse. Her head was starved of enough oxygen at this point that she couldn’t think straight. When she found herself leaning against the elevator, slamming her hand on the button and gulping breaths, she hadn’t thought anything of it. 

Normally, when she’d found herself in an elevator or other scary, small space, the walls had closed in around her and she cried or, worse, screamed until she was let free. But she hadn’t even noticed the slow ride downstairs now, since the walls had been caving in since she’d left the Chief’s office. The elevator stopped and Crystal nearly fell out of the two doors. If anyone was around her, Crystal wouldn’t have noticed unless she’d crashed into them. 

Being out of the elevator really hadn’t made her feel much better. The fresh air and freedom gave her no release from the pressure building in her lungs. It felt like a hand was covering her mouth and nose and she was breathing through the gaps of its fingers. 

The elevator wasn’t in the same place as the stairs and Crystal felt a nauseating disorientation for a moment. Eventually, the familiarity washed over her again and she found what she’d been looking for. 

The door to the room Gigi Goode had made her home was shut. It usually was, since Gigi wasn’t the sort of person who liked to have a casual conversation with a passer-by, but Crystal just hoped it wasn’t because she was in a meeting or something. Crystal didn’t pause to knock, she just grabbed the handle with shaking, fragile hands. When it was open Crystal struggled to make much of the inside, since her vision was swimming at this point, but she could see how pissed Gigi looked to find her privacy invaded. The door slammed shut behind her, only angering Gigi further. 

“Crystal? I don’t know when you stopped knocking, but can we bring it back? Can we reschedule whatever this is, I have a meeting in like ten minutes,” said Gigi, who looked extremely surprised to see the woman again. 

“I can’t breathe Gigi,” Crystal cried, her voice strained. 

Gigi straightened up, eyes wide, watching from a distance as Crystal curled in on herself. She hunched over, breathing so loud that Gigi was worried someone would come bursting in with a medic. 

“Okay, shit, okay, what do you need me to do?” 

She rushed over, her hands outstretched, waiting for Crystal to talk. When she only let out a sob, Gigi tried not to panic. 

“Do you need an EpiPen or something?” Gigi tried again, but this time Crystal managed to shake her head. With Gigi’s help, she sank to the floor. 

Gigi sat cross-legged in front of Crystal, which was an undignified pose she’d normally avoid, glad that at least the journalist wasn’t in any mortal danger. 

“Can I hold your hands?” 

Crystal found herself nodding. Gigi took the woman’s hands in her own, placing them in her lap. 

“Okay, now we’re going to talk about me. That meeting I was talking about? That I definitely have to reschedule? It was about one of Willam’s pieces. He’s written about fast fashion but the whole thing is so gross. They called me up because, while it doesn’t technically violate any ethics, it’s just so offensive. I don’t understand how either, it just is. They’re making me find a reason why we can’t release it to the public since the ethics board are baffled.” 

Crystal let out a weak laugh, “Pretty sure you aren’t supposed to tell me all this. Also, I’m dying and you want to complain about Willam?” 

Gigi shrugged, “None of that was even true. The meeting’s about deals with social media influencers. But you can breathe now, right?” 

“Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Inhale, count to three, exhale and count down to one,” instructed Gigi, doing it with Crystal to help. 

“I can’t,” whined Crystal. 

“You can. There’s nothing stopping you from breathing. You just need to find the rhythm again. Inhale, exhale, okay?” 

Crystal nodded miserably, making the rise and fall of her chest mimic Gigi’s. Gigi could see the woman was doing this and deepened her own breathing. 

“Is that better?” 

“Yeah.” 

Once the black spots in her vision had disappeared, Crystal relaxed against the wall she was leaning against. Her hands were still in Gigi’s and now that she could think properly, she realised how sweaty they must be. She also realised how uncomfortable she was with anyone holding them. When she pulled them away, Gigi didn’t seem to mind. 

“Do you get panic attacks a lot?” Gigi asked softly. 

“Not really.” 

“So…did something happen?” 

Crystal bit her lip. She knows how this works. She has to tell someone. It would be so easy for her to tell Gigi, who would then talk to HR. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have any evidence, right? What was she supposed to do, wear a go-pro? Would he get arrested? Fined? A slap on the wrist? Crystal sat very still to make sure another panic attack didn’t follow the first one. 

“Nothing happened, it’s just been a long day. Go catch your meeting, I’m really sorry I came down here.” 

Gigi smiled, “Don’t be sorry. You can stay in here as long as you need, I’ll tell the others not to come in. I’ll be in the meeting room but if you need me again just knock.” 

“Thanks, Gigi,” whispered Crystal. 

“Are you sure you want me to go? I can stay?” 

Crystal shook her head, “I’m fine, really.” 

She watched Gigi walk away. The way Gigi’s natural walk was a confident strut, the way the click of her heels hurt Crystal’s sensitive head and the way she glanced back just once. Crystal came very conscious of the fact that she was still sitting on the floor but her limbs wouldn’t move. She rested her chin on her knees when she’d pulled them to her chest and listened numbly to Gigi’s faint voice a few rooms along.


	7. The Day Off

There were long, hot-pink nails on Bri’s fingers. She always had some sort of acrylic or press-on to decorate them and definitely just liked the sound they made when she typed away at the reception computer. They were also great fun to point with. Today, though, they were particularly handy to crush the cupcake in her hand. 

It was a mini homemade vanilla sponge in cute, flowery casing. Bri, apparently, liked to bake when she was stressed, and turns out she was actually quite good at it. They looked adorable and Crystal had been really impressed, despite the situation. That hadn’t stopped Bri from picking it up and slowly letting it crumble into pieces as she squeezed it. Crumbs went flying all over the couch and floor, blending into the cream of the carpet. The thin layer of icing had gotten stuck under her nails but she kept going until the snack was basically ashes. 

“We get it, Bri,” sighed Monet from the kitchen, which was joined to the living room with just a partition. 

“It’s what I’m going to do to his balls,” seethed Bri. 

“We know, Bri.” 

But Bri didn’t stop until the damage was done and the living room looked like a bakery explosion. Her entire face had gone an alarming shade of beetroot. Monet had initially been making some chamomile tea for Crystal, who had been silent since she’d told them what had happened, but now felt like Bri needed it more. He stirred in an inhumane amount of sugar into a Hello Kitty mug and left it in front of Bri. 

When he came back and began to pour Crystal hers, he noticed how she was shaking. She’d been staring blankly at the counter she was leaning on. 

“Go sit down, baby,” Monet told her, nodding to the arm chair beside Bri. She slumped into it, nearly absorbed by all the cushions on it. 

He put some honey into her tea and placed it down beside her before grabbing himself a can of coke from the fridge. He sat down beside Bri but had to stand up again when he’d found the crumbs incredibly uncomfortable. He tried to brush them off, cursing under his breath. 

“You’re a damn pig, Cracker.” 

“I’m angry, Monet!” 

He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, girl, I’m angry too, but what does making a mess do, huh? Do you think if Crystal gets cake up her ass she’ll forget about what happened? Dumb bitch.” 

It had taken Crystal a long time to pry herself from Gigi’s floor. She’d managed to feel numb, which was much more pleasant than before, and tried hard to breathe in and out just as Gigi had done. Her only motivation to leave had been that she hadn’t wanted to still be there when Gigi returned, so that she didn’t look really strange. Eventually, she’d found herself in the car park around the side of the building, a cigarette in hand. There was no way she’d be able to drag herself back to work so she called Violet to tell her she was feeling horrible. Surprisingly, Violet didn’t question it and told her to go home and rest. 

She’d cried herself to sleep as guilt and shame filled her head and she decided she couldn’t take it anymore. At four, just as the sun was beginning to rise, she called Bri and told her they needed to talk. But not over the phone. She’d been crying at the time and it had obviously sounded distressed enough for Bri to call Monet immediately after. 

That led to Bri and Monet skiving from work the next day and inviting Crystal over. She walked to Bri’s, heart pounding as she wondered what they would say. It wasn’t like she was worried they’d hate her, but she couldn’t help thinking about all the things they could say. In the end, she’d blurted it out to Bri as soon as the poor girl had opened the door and the tiny blonde been fuming ever since. 

Now, at ten in the morning, everyone had finally calmed down enough to sit and talk about it. Bri was adorning a ‘Barbie’ t-shirt with fluffy pink shorts and had managed to do half of her makeup before she got too angry to worry about it. Monet was fully dressed but had wrapped Bri’s equally pink dressing gown around him. For the first time in a while, Crystal actually felt over-dressed. She was given a pair of slippers as a consolation. 

“I always knew he had to be an absolute creep,” said Monet once he’d gotten comfortable. 

“He’s, like, the most respected man in the industry. Was it really too much to ask that he wouldn’t be a pervert?” asked Bri.

“I didn’t say no,” said Crystal, her voice low, “I didn’t say anything, you know, when he suggested it.” 

“I’m not surprised! You were probably in shock. Don’t think you could’ve done anything differently. If you’d said no, he would’ve fired you or something. You bought yourself time to think,” reassured Bri. 

“How much time did he give you? How long do ultimatums normally last?” asked Monet. 

Crystal sank into the chair, “I don’t know. But it won’t be long. He won’t want me telling people or finding a lawyer. He’ll probably give me until the end of the week.” 

“What are we gonna do, then?” asked Bri. 

“First things first, we go to HR. Get Crystal to write a statement about what happened and then investigate.” 

“That’s great, Monet, but don’t you think the Chief would do anything to cover this up? If it didn’t go in his favour,” argued Bri. 

Monet gritted his teeth, “You know, the Chief is bold. He let you walk away. He really has no leverage over you, except for you losing your job. This is horrible, but I think he’s done this before. And I think whoever his victim was…I think they did it. There’s no way he’d be this confident otherwise.” 

“You really think?” asked Crystal. 

“You can’t say it doesn’t make sense. Does that mean if we report it to HR, there’ll be no other reports? I mean, if he got what he wanted, that person probably couldn’t have filed a complaint,” added Bri. 

“So, you’re saying if we report him he won’t be expecting it?” asked Crystal.

“I think it’s worth a shot. I mean, he can’t get away with this. We have people working with us who are even younger than you are,” said Bri, who was still just as angry as she’d been when she’d first heard the revelation. 

“Will you both come with me? If I report it?” 

Monet turned so he was looking Crystal in the eyes, “Crystal, if you went up to his office, tied him up and set the place on fire, I’d hand you the match. Girl, of course we’re coming with you.” 

Content, they all fell into place in Bri’s living room. Bri was flicking through Netflix, which apparently Monet paid for anyway, and was searching through the romance films. Monet was yelling at her to stop, insisting he’d rather jump from her balcony than watch ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ one more time. 

“They’re all the same! They meet, something good happens, something bad happens, and then they get married. You can’t make me suffer through heterosexual torture like that again. You’re not even straight so I don’t have a clue why you even enjoy it.” 

Bri glared at Monet, “Says the one who likes friends.” 

Bri threw the remote from her hand when Monet reached for it, only sending the man into more of a fury. 

Crystal’s phone had been abandoned in her lap while she watched the two argue like it was a tennis match, since she’d been trying to avoid talking to people, but the flash of her phone screen caught her attention. She unlocked the screen and it took her to her text messages. This one, though, was from a number she didn’t have saved. For a moment she panicked, but she reminded herself that she was safe here. 

Unknown Number: Heard you’re missing our session today. You okay?

Crystal: Who is this?

Unknown Number: How many sessions do you have scheduled for today?? It’s Gigi.

Crystal felt slightly embarrassed that she hadn’t picked up on that earlier. She saved Gigi’s name in her phone before going back to their messages. She realised Gigi had sent another one while Crystal had been busy. 

Georgina: Is this about yesterday? 

Crystal: I promise it’s not. I just feel sick. Make up for it tomorrow? 

Georgina: Of course. 

Crystal: By the way, how did you get my number? Stalking again? 

Georgina: I had it on file. Don’t make this weird. Feel better x

“Why are you grinning at your phone? You were nearly crying like two minutes ago. Did the Chief die?” asked Bri. 

“No, I’m just talking to Gigi,” said Crystal, with instant regret. 

Monet and Bri charged over to her chair, both of them taking an arm each. Crystal didn’t even have a chance to lock her phone before the pair of them were reading over her shoulder. 

“I thought maybe you meant a different Gigi, but no. Gigi Goode gave you her number. Shit.” 

Bri sighed, “I’m going to have to change my Instagram caption now.” 

“She was just worried about me. I sort of went running to her after what happened and had a little panic attack.” 

“How romantic,” said Monet. 

“So how did she react? I assume she’d talk to HR for us,” asked Bri. 

“Oh, I didn’t tell her. I’m not sure if I want to. I-I just have caused her so many problems already and I don’t want her wondering why she has to deal with me.” 

Bri and Monet exchanged a look when Crystal sniffed. 

“Hey, baby, look at me,” said Monet, “what happened wasn’t your fault. People like him prey on whoever is powerless. He likes it because your job is in his hands. Trust me, it has nothing to do with anything you did.” 

“I don’t want to go back to work.” 

“You didn’t let the first dickhead stop you, we won’t let this one either. We’ll have a self-care day and then tomorrow we’ll go kick his ass,” said Bri. 

“Monet, can’t you just go to work and we can all live here? We’d make cute housewives, like the good old days,” whined Crystal. 

Monet laughed, “You’re crazy if you think I could survive in this pit. If a binman looked into his truck just before the shit got crushed, this is what he’d see.” 

“It’s really not that bad!” 

But Crystal had to agree with Monet, “Bri, I really thought you’d be so neat and tidy.” 

Bri shrugged, “Listen, it’s just like my mind. There’s a few crumbs here and there, a few dishes that need doing but, really, everything works and isn’t that the main thing?” 

“Not when the mice come, bitch,” said Monet. 

“Since we said no to working today, you might as well help me clean up.” 

Monet scoffed, “No work means no work. They only working we’re doing is trying to figure out how to get the Chief some jail time.” 

“There’s no chance of that,” sighed Crystal, “I just want to feel safe.” 

Monet put his head on top of her head and Bri squeezed her shoulder. 

“Oh babe,” she said, “you’re breaking my heart. We’ve got a plan, remember? Try not to worry too much, he’ll get what he deserves.” 

“I know.” 

“So, why don’t you tell us a little more about Gigi Goode? She must like you, because I think she left Violet a number to contact her on from a whole ass different phone. It’s like she’s got a little trap phone for calls. I can’t believe you just got it, like that,” said Monet. 

Bri leaned forward with a wicked grin, “You must know some good stuff. Has she got any secrets? Let’s guess. I’m gonna say it’s either an extra toe or she’s had a nose job. Monet?” 

“Well, I think it’s more likely a gastric bypass or she’s an international spy. Come on, Crys, spill it.” 

Crystal put her hands up in defence, “I really don’t know a thing about her. Other than the fact she hates to be called Georgina, which everyone knows.” 

“But you want to know more, don’t you?” asked Bri. 

“Huh?” 

“You want to get to know her. Real well.” 

Monet slapped Bri hard on the arm, “We haven’t had the talk yet, Cracker. Shut that huge mouth of yours.” 

Bri sighed, “This would be overstepping if we were straight, but we’re not. Just tell us if we’re barking up the wrong tree, Crystal.” 

“Don’t tell anyone at work, okay?” 

Bri and Monet exchanged overjoyed looks.

“I knew I read your vibe right. But, now we know, as I was saying…I think you have a little crush on Georgina,” said Bri. 

“Stop projecting,” said Monet. 

“No, no, hear me out! She’s the only person I’ve heard not talk shit about her. Plus, if someone has a meeting with Gigi, they never make it to a second one. She butts heads with everyone. So, there’s gotta be something.” 

“There’s nothing. We don’t butt heads because I do what she says. If we’re comparing my meetings to Willam’s or Phi Phi’s-do you remember her, then I was always going to be an ideal client.”

Monet sighed and turned to Bri, “Yeah, she’s got a point there.” 

“Mark my words,” huffed Bri, peeling herself off the arm of Crystal’s chair and walking over to the television in front of them, “I’m right.” 

She looked around for the remote, which was buried amongst makeup and empty water bottles. When she’d found it, she went back to the arm chair. Crystal thought it was a little ridiculous that none of the had moved onto the couch, which would actually be big enough for them all. Instead, she had Monet on one side with his legs swung over her and Bri on the other. She was much smaller than her friends so she was half sitting on Crystal’s lap. 

“Can we watch Clueless?” said Bri, her eyes pleading. 

“If there’s any funerals or even one wedding, I’ll kill you with my bare hands,” said Monet. 

“It’s not Alicia Silverstone’s fault that you hate love.” 

Crystal normally had an opinion on what she watched. She would’ve probably made a few suggestions too. But today, she couldn’t have felt more content. It would’ve been just as nice if they’d just been sitting together, not even talking. Crystal felt safer than she had in a long time, bundled up in an arm chair with two idiots. She knew they’d be there for her, when she decided to fight this battle she knew was coming. There was no way she could avoid work forever and, soon, she had to face him. At least she didn’t have to do it alone. 

Crystal rested her head on Bri’s arm, watching the film she’d already seen at least one hundred times. If it had been her choice she would’ve probably chosen a horror. She loved them anyway but watching someone get mauled by a clown was always a good reminder that your life could always be worse. She decided, though, that films were much better when you had your friends’ commentary in the background. 

By the time they’d reached the end of the film, Monet was sitting at the women’s feet, pinching Bri every time she made a comment. He also punched Crystal whenever she laughed, encouraging Bri, or made her own dumb joke. They knew he was just upset at how much he actually enjoyed the film. When it had finished, he scrolled through the other suggestions under Clueless, having found a new genre to obsess over. They’d decided to do Mean Girls next, after an intense debate involving Wild Child. 

Hours later, when each of them was yawning more and more frequently, Crystal had decided it was time to leave. 

“Do I have to go to work tomorrow?” she pouted. 

“Yeah, why can’t we do this every day,” agreed Bri. 

“There’s no chance I’m going on my own so you both better be there,” warned Monet. 

Just as Crystal was putting on her jacket and giving Bri her slippers back, she pulled both of them into a hug. 

“Thank you.” 

“Don’t thank us. We’re with you. We’re like Janet and Cady and Damien,” said Monet. 

“You mean Janis?” 

“Pipe down Regina,” said Monet, when Bri had corrected him. 

“Do you want us to walk you home?” offered Bri.

Crystal shook her head, “I’ll be fine, promise! I won’t get hit by any buses.” 

They still walked her out onto the street below, as if worried the Chief would be waiting for her. They said goodbye with another hug before leaving her to face the faintly setting sun. Bri held on tighter than she normally would, her head at an awkward angle considering her height. Her hand brushed Crystal’s hair gently, like she was afraid to let go. 

“If you need me, call me. We’ll have a sleepover.” 

Crystal smiled, “I’ll be okay.” 

Her answer was just enough to satisfy Bri, who then went to stand beside Monet. Crystal didn’t look back, too worried that they’d think she needed them, so she wasn’t too sure how long they stayed to watch her. She was sure by the time she’d disappeared down the winding streets, past the traffic lights that always sent her heart racing, that they would’ve gone inside. 

The walk wasn’t too long, their apartments separated by complicated streets and a few green spaces which shouldn’t really be called parks. The park was probably enough for an inactive dog, yet children in the neighbourhood still found the space to play. It took Crystal a few footsteps to walk through the park, dodging the football she nearly tripped over. Once she’d come to the gate on the other side, her eyes couldn’t help but linger on the street sign above her head. ‘Tchotchke’ was written half-way down. 

Considering how Crystal was normally leaving work about an hour earlier, she found the streets were much calmer than usual. They were still busy but there was no shouting, heckling or cars horns which Crystal had become strangely accustomed to. She decided maybe she should leave work later than normal and walk home in peace, for a change. 

Crystal usually kept her head down when she was walking. She used to do it because she liked to mumble to herself as she went and, this way, it was just slightly less embarrassing. When she got a bit older it was to avoid people recognising her. She began to like the way people would ask her questions and ask for photos though. Now, she’s back to wanting to blend into the streets and not be seen.

Getting used to being the only one walking, she almost jumped when she heard the sound of heels connecting with the pavement not too far away from her. 

With her eyes to the ground, the first thing she saw approach her was impossibly tall white heels and the smooth, pale skin of the legs adorning them. Next came the dress and blazer. It was at this point Crystal knew who was ahead of her and it made her heart lurch when she knew she was right. Gigi was walking towards her, head bowed down into the screen in her hands. Even as she grew closer, she was completely oblivious to the surroundings around her. It reminded Crystal of herself. 

She panicked for a second, wondering if she should just run across the road and hope that Gigi didn’t see her. No, there was no way she’d manage to go unnoticed. Was it worse if she just walked past her, pretending she also hadn’t noticed the other woman? Or maybe she should just be normal and say hello? Yeah, right. 

Now in her thoughts and unaware of her own surroundings, Crystal hadn’t been able to warn Gigi before the younger woman walked into her. It had happened so fast that Crystal was completely taken off guard, gasping when she stumbled. Gigi was even more confused, since she had no prior warning, and nearly fell. Crystal acted fast, knowing Gigi would never forgive her if she ruined those heels. She caught Gigi by the elbows to help steady her. Gigi’s own hands found Crystal’s waist and, a few long seconds later, she found her balance. 

“I thought it was you,” said Crystal. 

Gigi looked up to Crystal in surprise as she’d been otherwise preoccupied on her phone. She relaxed when she saw who had spoken to her. 

“Why did you let me run into you?" Breathed Gigi. 

“Well I’m sorry, but I didn’t think you’d bulldoze me. Besides, I wasn’t expecting to see you. What are you doing here?” 

Gigi paused, “I was in the neighbourhood. Friend lives in one of the houses down your street.” 

“Did you have a nice time with them?”

“With who?” 

“Your friend.” 

“Oh yeah.” 

Crystal raised an eyebrow, “Well, that’s good.”

“Hey, is there somewhere we can go? Grab a coffee or something. I just wanted to talk to you about something today and since you’re here there’s no point in waiting until tomorrow.” 

Crystal nodded, “Sure. There’s a coffee place just around the corner. You must know the one. I bet you and your friend go there all the time.” 

“I know it,” said Gigi, her voice a little higher in pitch, knowing neither women believed her. 

If Crystal had her suspicions, they’d been confirmed when Gigi had walked straight past the door to the shop. In the woman’s defence. It definitely didn’t look like a Starbucks. There were plants growing outside in colourful pots and advertisements in the small windows. It could’ve easily passed as a home. 

The place itself wasn’t fancy in any way. It was on the ground floor of some apartments on the corner of a street with a flashing green sign to welcome in customers. There were only four tables and a few bar stools in the small business but luckily only one couple were enjoying coffee that evening. They looked up when the bell above the door announced Crystal and Gigi’s arrival but they went swiftly back to their conversation after. 

“Hi Crystal baby,” said the woman behind the counter. Her ashy blonde hair had impressive volume, as it always did, styled into heavy curls and kept from her rosy face with a headband. Crystal grinned and waved to her. 

“How are you today Mrs Michelle?” beamed Crystal as she dragged Gigi to the counter. The woman adjusted her apron. 

“Oh, as always, I’ve got a million things to worry about. Have you seen that daughter of mine today? It would be nice to make it 999,999 things for a change.” 

Crystal looked apologetic, “I wasn’t at work today. I’m sure she’s fine, though. Maybe she’s with Jackie.” 

Mrs Michelle smiled, “Jannie brought that girl in a few weeks ago and bless her soul she left me a tip way too generous for a coffee they shared.” 

“The best way to impress someone is to show someone else kindness,” said Crystal with a knowing nod. 

“You couldn’t sound more like myself if you tried. Anyway, enough about me, what can I get you girls?” 

“I’ll have a glass of water please,” Gigi squinted to read the label on Mrs Michelle’s apron, “Alexis, and whatever Crystal wants.” 

Crystal looked at Gigi, “Oh, uh, a latte would be lovely.” 

Mrs Michelle nodded, “Perfect. Take a seat, girls, I’ll bring them over.” 

Crystal brought them over to a window seat, tucked in the corner away from the couple. It was hard for her to hear Gigi over the hissing and whirring of the coffee machine. 

“You know Jan, don’t you? The other print journalist,” asked Crystal. 

“Yes. I like any journalist who stays out of trouble, I try to learn their names as a thank you,” said Gigi, and Crystal thought the woman was only half joking. 

“Well, Mrs Michelle is her mom. They moved here together a couple of years back. Jan brought some of her mom’s brownies in when she first started and I forced her to show me where she’d set up her shop.” 

Mrs Michelle came up from behind them and placed the drink orders in front of the women, “And now you’re our favourite regular.” 

“You’re just saying that because Jackie’s not here,” teased Crystal, earning herself a ruffle of her curls. 

“I can have more than one favourite. You call me over if you need anything else sweetheart.” 

“Thanks for the coffee,” said Crystal after a brief silence, seeing how Gigi looked slightly like a fish out of water. 

“It’s fine. You look better than you did yesterday. I was worried about you, I didn’t know it was possible for a Latina woman to look so pale. You were like a ghost.” 

“Yeah, I feel better. So, I take it that’s what you wanted to talk to me about? Yesterday?” 

“Look,” said Gigi, pushing her glass of water away from her, “I know I’m not technically your boss or anything, but if something did happen…you could tell me. A lot of my clients experience bullying or attacks, I guess I thought it was fine because there wasn’t much on your profiles, but it can happen anywhere. If it was hateful or offensive we can do something about it. Don’t be embarrassed to tell me if something hurt your feelings.” 

“I was just feeling ill.” 

“Yeah, so you keep saying. But I can tell something’s wrong and I know there’s something you’re not telling me. You can tell me to leave it alone but I get the feeling you need help.” 

“What if I don’t want to talk about it?” asked Crystal. 

Gigi shrugged, “Like I said, you can tell me to shut up. But if you need something…ask.” 

“All I need from you,” Crystal settled on the words after unscrambling them in her head, “is for you to do your job and get me back on track. I need to work on the next issue I’ll miss out on so many potential clients and jobs if I don’t.” 

“My job,” repeated Gigi, as if she was chewing the words and trying to figure out how they taste. 

“You were asking me what’s wrong because you don’t want something to come up that’ll ruin all the work you’ve put into me, right? I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just don’t want you to worry about something you don’t have to.”

“Just because I don’t have to worry doesn’t mean I don’t want to.” 

Crystal was just slightly taken aback by Gigi’s argument. Her reputation cleared the way for Gigi wherever she went, and the woman was never associated with the words ‘warm’ or ‘kind’. Crystal never saw it as a bad thing. In fact, if she’d managed to keep emotions out of her job, then she’d still be working her peaceful, unproblematic job. She’d convinced herself that there was no need to tell Gigi about what happened because it wasn’t in her job description. Even though, deep down, she knew the real reason was she had no idea how Gigi would react. How close was she to the Chief? Surely it was more important for her to protect his image than hers? 

“That’s personal for you,” said Crystal. 

Gigi laughed, but the actual sound was nothing but bitter, “I know what everyone thinks of me. When I first started this job, I went for lunch with Violet. She said to me that young, beautiful women will never be more than a prop in a big business like this. It doesn’t matter how many women work in Tchotchke, because there will always be a man in charge. She said I can’t give them a reason to undermine me. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care, Crystal.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be. We’re not that different. You spend so much time in the public that people assume they know everything about you. But I don’t think they do. I’m the same, except I prefer to be on the other side of the lens.” 

Crystal lifted her coffee cup towards Gigi, “Cheers, to people surprising you. Usually, in the best way.” 

Gigi smiled, bringing her glass of water to meet Crystal’s cup, “Cheers.” 

They both took a sip from their drinks, not breaking the eye contact as they did so. Whether it was the situation or the foamy moustache now on Crystal’s upper lip, they both found something funny and laughed loud enough to once again draw the attention of the couple in the shop. Gigi, still laughing, gestured to the latte above Crystal’s lips and she wiped it on the back of her hand. 

“I guess you’ll want to get going soon? I’m sure you’ve got some work to catch up on, since you decided you needed a day off,” said Gigi, finishing the last dregs of the water in her hand. 

“We’re not all robots like you.” 

Crystal had been testing the waters to see how far she could push but Gigi just shot her a look and laughed again. 

“Thanks for hearing me out, though. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” 

Gigi moved to stand up but Crystal stopped her, “Wait. If you’re anything like Violet, you probably don’t eat lunch…but if you wanted to grab a coffee again or something, I think I owe you one.” 

With a nod, Gigi got to her feet, “Yeah, I’d like that.” 

Without waiting for Crystal, she picked up her empty glass and the latte cup, bringing them over to Mrs Michelle. They exchanged a quiet word before Gigi walked out of the shop, not turning around to see Crystal, who watched her go from the window. 

Seeing Crystal sat down, finishing the last of her coffee with a faint smile, Mrs Michelle circled over to her. 

“It was nice to see you love. Bring your friend again, would you? You should see the tip she left.” 

Crystal’s smile only grew, “Show off.”


	8. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing's as it seems, I promise! 
> 
> Again, thank you to every one commenting, reading and leaving me lovely messages on my tumblr. You all really keep me going. 
> 
> Warnings for mentions of harassment but nothing too intense this time.

Whether she wanted to admit it or not, her heart had sunk in disappointment when Gigi had texted her early that morning. The text had apologised and said they wouldn’t be meeting that day as Gigi had a lot of things to sort out. She’d suggested that Crystal could work on old projects, finishing up drafts or working on her social profiles…all things Crystal didn’t want to do. 

More disappointment came from the fact that Crystal was going to talk to Gigi when they were in their meeting together as she’d promised her friends she would. It was a perfect opportunity for the revelation and Crystal didn’t think she could hold in her anxieties for a day longer. Still, she decided it could wait until Friday so she messaged Monet and Bri in their group chat together to explain that Gigi had cancelled on her so they would have to tell the woman the following day. As expected, both of her friends protested wildly and once she’d gotten out of the shower she’d seen four missed calls from the group. 

Bri told her to just tell Gigi she wants to talk, but Crystal refused. They’d very reluctantly agreed to do it on Friday, since they knew how terrified Crystal was anyway. They didn’t want to make it any worse. 

With their agreement, Crystal was able to push the conversation out of her mind for at least another day. She’d been writing a script in her notes and practicing it in her mirror and honestly it had been driving her insane. 

She had new things to worry about, though, as now she had to go back to see her team of journalists. She hadn’t spent much time with any of them and she hoped they hadn’t minded. Willam wasn’t very sensitive either, and Crystal could only silently plea that he didn’t say anything that would set off another panic attack. 

That prayer was the last thing she thought before she approached the door to their work room that morning. She stifled a yawn, hoping they wouldn’t hear her since the door was slightly open. She definitely didn’t want them to know how long she’d been stood outside the room for. 

With the door ajar, Crystal could hear the silence from inside. It was strange for her co-workers to sit in silence, especially how barely any of them wanted to do their work at the best of times. Normally she’d be trying to make noise to distract them, but just for once she wished she’d be able to slip into the room without causing a scene. 

The door had been propped open by a pencil case and judging by the fact no one else carried one (especially not with cats printed all over it), the stationary belonged to Jackie. Before Crystal stepped over it she leaned down to pick it up, being sure that Jackie wasn’t the one who’d put it there. 

Now without anything to keep the door from slamming, it made loud contact with the frame and everyone’s heads snapped up in a panic. Feeling just a bit awkward, she walked over to Jackie’s desk and handed over the pencil case.

Jackie’s face lit up, “Oh, where did you find it? It’s been missing for a while now.” 

“It was on the other side of the door,” said Crystal apologetically. 

“See? I told her, if she stops looking then she’ll find it. Things are always in the last place you look because that’s when you stop looking for it,” grinned Jan. 

“Look who it is, already ruining things,” shouted Willam, incredibly unnecessarily, considering how everyone else had already noticed Crystal’s appearance. 

For just a moment, everyone seemed unsure of themselves, but Jan broke the tension by getting up from her seat and pulling Crystal into a hug. She always smelled of the same perfume, sickly sweet and floral, but it was nice and comforting. It always made Crystal feel insecure since she often imagined her own scent to be sweat and cigarettes. Jackie copied her co-worker and did the same, a friendly smile plastered on her face as she pulled Crystal in.

“We were just talking about you actually. Jan’s mum said she’d served you yesterday and we were worried since it’s been days since we’ve seen you. We were beginning to think you didn’t like us anymore!” said Jackie. 

“You know I love you. I’ve just been so busy working with Gigi.” 

Jan looked sympathetic, “We heard you’ve been getting more heat lately. But you’ve got so many supporters, you must be doing a good job! The models were posting all about you online, they all love you.” 

“It’ll be fine. I guess none of you heard about the party Shea’s planning, then? Everyone’s going, even Jaida apparently. Nicky too.” 

Jan squealed, grabbing onto Jackie’s arm. The woman tried to shrug her off but Jan only tightened her grip, shaking with excitement. 

“I knew Shea couldn’t resist! But we get our girls back too? This is, like, going to be the best day ever,” said Jan. 

When Jan, Jackie and Crystal were still new faces, they’d worked on a project with Jaida and Nicky. The Chief had created a new clothing line and wanted to feature it in the magazine. He’d chosen them, even though they were barely more than interns, to work on the project. Jan and Crystal had written an article together called ’10 Trends Predicted in The Charles’ Collection 2017’ whilst Jackie was chosen to write, ‘The Charles’ Models and Their Favourite Pieces’. They’d gotten to know the two models, hand-picked by Violet, very well and considered them close friends. It had been a long time since they’d seen either of them. 

“Nicky’s coming from Paris? And I don’t even know where Jaida is right now…this is so cool!” agreed Jackie. 

“At least Nicky’s hot,” agreed Willam. 

“Now we know Willam’s type is foreign blondes, can we talk about who’s invited? Surely, they won’t let him and Courtney at a party together again,” asked Aquaria, who’d been trying so hard to do her work. 

“It’s up to Shea. Violet’s given her free rein. And you know she loves as much drama as possible, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she wants you both there,” shrugged Crystal. 

Aquaria took the pencil out of her mouth, “If Shea thinks it’ll be funny to put Willam in a room of people who don’t like him, she’ll have to rent out the entirety of LA.” 

Willam laughed, a sound he knew irritated Aquaria, “You can stay pressed but at the end of the day I’ve been on the cover of the Sun more times than you’ve said my name today. Which, by the way, is a lot.” 

“Guys,” whined Jan, “can you stop it? Why can’t we talk about what we’re going to wear and if we’re bringing dates?” 

“Aquaria, do you want to go with me?” asked Willam. 

“Only if you shove the invitation up your ass and spit it out,” came her response, making poor Jan choke on the water she’d been drinking. Jackie rubbed circles on her back. 

“If you’re the one who shoves it up, you’ve got yourself a deal,” he said, reaching towards her and offering a hand, which she didn’t shake. 

Aquaria was facing away from Willam, but everyone heard the faint, “I wish you’d die.” 

“Crys, do you remember that dress Shea wore for a photoshoot a little while ago? The red one with all the layers and frills? Do you think she’d let me borrow it?” asked Jan pleadingly. 

“Jan, Shea’s probably like a foot taller than you. She’d have to cut the dress in half,” laughed Crystal. 

“Yeah you’re right,” then she turned to Jackie, “You’ll help me find something nice, won’t you?” 

“You’re gonna let Jackie choose your outfit? You want to go to a party for models dressed in a cardigan and mom jeans?” scoffed Willam. 

“If I look as good as her,” smiled Jan, “then yes.” 

Crystal noticed how Jackie lowered her head to hide the blush on her face. Jan hadn’t noticed and was still preoccupied with what she wanted to wear. Willam ruined the otherwise tender moment by putting his finger in his mouth and making disgusting vomiting noises that echoed around the room. 

“I think you should wear purple,” said Jackie, finally finding her voice, “it suits you so well, I mean, it’s your favourite colour for a reason.” 

Now it was Jan’s turn to blush, “Now that’s a good idea! But I will, only if you match with me. We could do different shades, or you could wear a jumpsuit because you look so good in them.” 

Willam threw his hands onto his desk and stood up, “I’m going for an early lunch. And by that, I mean I’m going to drink. This shit better be over by the time I get back.” 

He left all his belongings sprawled out at his desk and his bag still hung over his chair. Crystal wasn’t even sure if he’d remembered to bring any money or even his phone in his haste to leave. 

“We should all coordinate,” suggested Jan, “like choose the same designer or something.” 

“This isn’t high school Jan,” sighed Aquaria. 

“You say that like you weren’t prom queen,” said Crystal. 

“You know, I was actually prom queen at my school. I was the captain of the cheerleaders so it just sort of happened. Bit awkward, though, I had braces and glasses at the time. They look good on most people, but I wasn’t one of them,” said Jan. 

Aquaria frowned, obviously trying to understand how Jan thought either braces or glasses looked good on people. 

Jan really reminded Crystal of Luna Lovegood. In the nicest way possible, of course, she was one of her favourite characters. It was the way Jan floated through life completely unbothered, with the single goal of making everyone feel good about themselves. It was no surprise she was the cheer captain. 

“Well, I’m glad you lived your high school fantasies but I didn’t even go to prom,” said Crystal. 

Jan basically slapped her, “What? Excuse me, you never went to prom?”

“That’s so sad,” said Jackie. 

“It’s fine,” Jan reassured, “we’ll just turn Shea’s party into Crystal’s prom! We can crown her at the after party, it’ll be so cute.” 

Aquaria was the next to stand up, “I’m going for lunch too. I knew as soon as Crystal came back no one would get any work done. I’ll ask Bri if there’s a spare room I can work in or something.” 

Unlike Willam, she intended to do work, so she picked up her stationary and her laptop before she went. Crystal was more interested in the fact that Aquaria actually knew Bri’s name and even used her nickname. She wondered if she should warn Bri, knowing she’d be pissed if she didn’t have time to reapply her makeup first. 

“Do you think if I asked Violet she’d let us go look at the dresses?” asked Jan. 

Many photoshoots were done in the building, alongside interviews and promotions, so Violet kept a collection of her favourite dresses in a room she called the ‘Tchotchke Wardrobe’. It was the size of a large boutique and Crystal had interviewed models and celebrities in almost all of the dresses. It might as well have been plucked from Jan’s dreams and she would eat her lunch in there if she could. Crystal and Jackie, who both preferred how suits, jumpsuits and blazers looked on their bodies, didn’t understand her obsession. But Crystal knew Jackie would never pass up an opportunity to see Jan spin around in dresses.

“She loves you, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. We can just take our lunch breaks now,” reassured Jackie. 

Jan squealed, pulling Jackie to her feet, “Crys, are you coming? You’d look stunning in blue!” 

Crystal smiled, “I’ve got somewhere to be, but I’ll catch up with you! Make sure you send me a picture of you playing dress up!” 

Crystal followed the other two out of the room. She almost felt sorry for Jackie, who’d had Jan screaming in her ear about necklines and straps for the last few minutes. She silently willed Violet to let them try on the dresses because otherwise they’d all have to deal with Jan crying, which was more of a horrible whine than anything else.

Crystal parted ways with the two women, who promised they’d look out for a dress they thought she would like. She didn’t really have any intention of wearing a dress to Shea’s event, but it was nice of them regardless, so she didn’t mind. walked into the reception, feeling like she couldn’t go without saying hello to Bri first. As expected, the receptionist was the opposite of busy. She was staring blankly at her desk, eating sweets from the jar beside her. It took her a long time to even notice Crystal, who was already basically standing in front of Bri when she looked up. 

“Shit you scared me,” Bri sighed, clutching her chest. 

“Sorry, just wanted to know how you’re doing,” Crystal said pointedly. 

“You mean did a certain someone pay me a visit?” 

“You know I do.” 

“It was going so well and then I told her she could do her work in my bedroom and she left,” admitted Bri. 

“Why did you do that?” cried Crystal. 

“I underestimated her lack of a sense of humour?” 

“Take her a coffee or something to apologise and compliment her work, she’ll love it.” 

Bri grinned, “Okay Cupid, I’ll try it. So, if you aren’t here to go for lunch with me, where are you going?” 

“To see Gigi,” said Crystal, as if speaking it with confidence would stop Bri from questioning it. 

Bri raised an eyebrow, “I thought you didn’t have a meeting today?” 

“We don’t.” 

“Look at us, I fucking love it,” laughed Bri, “You go get your girl and I’ll get mine. This is hilarious.” 

“I just want to talk to her! I need to ask her some things before tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, whatever, you have a big, fat-”

Crystal shushed her, but Bri was already waving her friend away dismissively. When Crystal headed towards the stairs, feeling as though everyone in the reception had been staring at her, she turned around to see Bri blowing her a kiss. 

Luckily, no one around them was concerned with much other than themselves, so none of them even acknowledged Crystal when she walked past them. She reached the stairs as an intern was walking up them and she gave Crystal a friendly ‘hello’ when she moved aside for her. Satisfied that her cover hadn’t been blown by Bri’s big mouth, she relaxed. 

Again, Crystal found herself outside Gigi’s door. This time, however, she wasn’t jumping from one foot to the other in a panic; she was actually quite excited to see the other woman. Her door was closed and Crystal was sure Gigi would put a lock on it eventually. She went as close to the door as she could, hoping Gigi would hear her. 

“Hi?” she called, hand already resting on the door handle. 

Crystal craned her neck, listening out for anything on the other side of the door. She noticed that the frantic, obnoxious typing, which had to be on a MacBook keyboard, ceased at the sound of her voice. 

“Yeah come in,” came the exasperated voice from the gap in the doorway. Crystal tentatively pushed the door and poked her head through the gap she’d now made much larger. 

Gigi looked like she definitely hadn’t been expecting to find Crystal there and lowered her laptop screen so she could see properly. 

“I thought I’d find you here,” said Crystal, closing the door behind her. Gigi looked her up and down, noticing the bag slung over her shoulder, and raised her eyebrow. 

For a moment, Crystal was afraid she’d completely misread the beginnings of their friendship. It was entirely possible that Gigi had just felt bad for her before and had no intention of actually taking Crystal up on her offer. She’d looked angry before she’d seen who was at her door, maybe Crystal had interrupted something but Gigi was too polite to say something. Not that ‘too polite’ was often used in relation to the woman but, as Crystal was learning, people were more than their gossip.

To Crystal’s surprise, Gigi smiled, “Don’t tell me you were going to ask to have lunch with me like you’re the kid at school being bullied.” 

Crystal frowned, knowing she was now a furious red, “Of course I wasn’t.” 

“Hey, I was just kidding. It would be nice to have some company. If I get one more intern trying to break my door down asking to take me to lunch, I’ll scream. They want me to post them on our media or make them a model and if I say no, they won’t pay for my food.” 

With a light chuckle, Crystal pulled up a chair and joined Gigi at the desk, “Well, it really is a hard life isn’t it? Why’d they change their minds, surely a salad won’t break the bank?” 

Gigi rolled her eyes, “You’re not talking to Raja or Violet here. I’ve actually got some pizza and I was going to offer you some before that insult.” 

“Wait I take it back.” 

“I thought you might.”

Crystal stifled her laugh as she watched Gigi reach into her large handbag and bring out slices of pizza from Tupperware containers. She took each slice out and lead them onto the desk like she was at a picnic. 

“What’s so funny?” asked Gigi, who looked wounded. 

“This is just the last thing I expected to see today.” 

Gigi shook her head, “I thought we went over this. Me eating pizza is like you following Raja’s diet plan-it could happen, just not in public.” 

Crystal shuddered, “Yeah, I’ve heard the rumours. But you’ve proved how shallow I am yet again.” 

“It’s not your fault. Your job is all about personality. If you come across as cold or argumentative then, well, we’ve seen what happens. We’re both just playing characters, really.”

“You really think I’m pretending to be bubbly and happy?” 

Gigi looked up slowly, “Put it this way, I’ve only known you for a few days and I’ve already seen you cry more than I’ve seen you laugh.” 

“Don’t start making assumptions about me.” 

“You’re right,” said Gigi, handing Crystal a slice of pizza, “there’s no chicken on this slice, I assume you’re a vegetarian? You seem the type.” 

“Non-practicing, but I appreciate the thought.” 

“What’s a non-practicing vegetarian? Is it like when people are vegan but they wear leather?” asked Gigi. 

“Haven’t got a clue, but it sounds better than ‘I was a vegetarian but I had a kebab on a night out and feel too guilty about it to commit to vegetarianism again’.” 

“Yeah, that makes sense. Hey,” Gigi said slowly, “how come you decided to come down here? You haven’t seen your journalists in a while, didn’t you want to catch up with them?” 

“Why would I sit upstairs with Willam when I can come down here and get fed for free?” 

“Well, I can’t argue with that. Especially about the Willam thing, I promise you I’m never working with him again. I thought I could handle it when I said yes but I scrolled through his Twitter once and decided not even God could save him.” 

“Oh, it was his Twitter that did it for you? He always thought you just saw his face and decided from that.” 

“No, his posts are much worse than that. I genuinely don’t know how he’s allowed an account, let alone how he’s verified.” 

Crystal laughed, “You should hear what we have to put up with in the office. I feel like I need a shower every time he speaks.” 

“There’s a reason he stayed though. He has this completely unapologetic attitude to everything he does. He knows himself so well and no matter how far he takes it, everyone always loves him. He’s a marvel, really,” said Gigi. 

“He’s something.” 

Gigi took a slice of pizza, avoiding the crust, “Don’t think I didn’t see how you dodged my question, though.” 

“Is Willam and pizza not an answer?” 

“Willam gets lunch in one of those disgusting fast food places every day and you didn’t know I’d be eating pizza. If you’d said you’d come down here expecting a salad to share, maybe I would believe you.” 

“I just wanted to say hi, then. It’s the first time this week I haven’t spoken to you, it felt weird,” admitted Crystal. 

“Might as well talk about plans for the rest of the week, then?” asked Gigi. 

“Why not.” 

“So, I’ve been in contact with his PR team, that’s why I needed space today. I was wondering why he’s stopped tweeting about you and I think it’s because he can’t dispute what he said so he needs you to do it for him. You have to be the one to say it wasn’t offensive. So, I called them to see if he would want to stage a press event. If you say it doesn’t bother you then your trolls can’t call you a ‘snowflake’ and his trolls won’t call him homophobic,” said Gigi. 

Crystal’s mouth fell open, “Really? Don’t you think I’ll lose all my integrity?” 

“That’s what we’re going to discuss tomorrow. We need to find a way for you to keep the seriousness of the situation whilst also diffusing all of the tension. I’m not asking you to tell him you also think women are useless.” 

“Can we get him to agree to a deal,” Crystal paused to think, “like we could say he was joking to spread awareness of how women are treated in the media?” 

Gigi nodded, “Making him out to be the hero is a smart move. His team want to meet with us first to talk terms, so hopefully this will run smoothly.” 

“Yeah, I’ll do it.” 

“Okay good,” Gigi seemed relieved, “we can sort it out tomorrow, there’s no need to talk about it today.”

“Yeah, we’ve got more important stuff to discuss, like non-participating vegetarians.” 

Gigi smirked, “You know, I still think that’s bullshit.” 

As Crystal was about to dive into a long, complicated explanation of her life style, the phone beside Gigi began to ring. Crystal looked down at it, wondering if the person on the other end was worth the interruption. Of course, Gigi didn’t have any phone numbers saved. Crystal didn’t find that she was surprised. 

For a while, Gigi let the phone ring. Crystal herself spent most of her shifts on the phone, feeling like her own receptionist. There was a general rule; if the phone rings for less than six seconds, it’s not important and you don’t have to follow it up. Crystal grew more and more impatient the longer the ringing went on. 

Gigi sighed, “Do you mind if I get it? If I don’t, they’ll only come and find me.” 

“Go ahead, but don’t expect pizza to be left when you come back.” 

“You’re going to make me leave my own office to answer a phone call?” 

The pointed look only encouraged Crystal, who took a leftover piece of Gigi’s crusts and began to nibble on it, “It’s not actually your office.”

Gigi picked up her work phone, which was still persistently ringing, and moved to stand in the corridor, “Hello, Miss Goode speaking.” 

Crystal had thought Gigi’s voice was professional before but listening to her on the phone was a whole different story. It reminded Crystal of her first day in customer service when she was sixteen. She was sure Gigi could hear her laughing from the other side of the door, so she stuffed another piece of pizza into her mouth to muffle it. 

She started to wonder when she’d begun to feel comfortable with Gigi. Granted, the woman still made her nervous, but she felt more welcome than before. It was almost like Gigi had been waiting for someone to understand her. She supposed it was hard when your career revolved around making other people likable but couldn’t do it for yourself. She made a mental note to give Gigi a lesson in being herself, if they ever became friends. 

Crystal was starting to feel uncomfortable, like she was somewhere she shouldn’t be, so she pulled her phone from her pocket. Her phone screen was decorated with notification badges, none from people she knew. She clicked onto Twitter, seeing her name still in the top ten trending list. Someone had tweeted that she’d been ‘axed’ from the public, since none of the projects she’d been working on had gone ahead. This was partly true, but they had all only been pushed back. 

Still, it had made her fans and her enemies spiral with conspiracy. She read the tweet with the most likes. 

@WeirdFashion: She’s probably busy working on some projects. She’s done this before and came out with something sick. 

Crystal decided to give the tweet a like, hoping that would send enough of a message. She didn’t want to do much else without Gigi sitting beside her. 

Luckily, the door came swinging open again and Gigi came floating through it, the phone still resting on her shoulder. 

“Sorry, it was a quick phone call but one of the interns on my PR team decided to do an interview without me so I had to set him straight.”

Crystal winced, “Sounds scary.” 

“Yeah, he cried a little bit. He wasn’t the first and won’t be the last,” said Gigi, very nonchalantly, taking back her seat at her desk. She looked down to the pizza crumbs on it. 

“Did you leave me any?” laughed Gigi, putting the phone on her desk. 

“Well, I did, but then you took too long.” 

It looked like Gigi had then been reminded about what her conversation had been about. Crystal assumed it had been about an appearance, deal or collaboration which often bored her, so she didn’t press Gigi about it. But Gigi’s expression told her that it had been a bit more personal than that.

“Oh, Crystal, that was Brianna. She told me the Chief has scheduled a meeting with you for Monday afternoon. And she also tells me you have something important you need to share, so she’s on her way.” 

Crystal, for the first time in a while, was completely and utterly speechless. She’d been incredibly stupid to think that she could forget about everything. 

“Is this what’s been bothering you?” Gigi asked very gently. 

“I told Bri I wasn’t ready yet,” Crystal murmured. 

“Do you want me to tell Brianna to leave?” 

“Let her stay. I think it’ll be easier if she’s here too.” 

Gigi looked confused, “If you two, and probably Monet, are going to tell me that you’re running away to the circus, I don’t want to hear it.”

Crystal let out a nervous laugh. 

They sat in silence while they waited for Bri to come. Gigi had tried to ask some questions, to at least understand what this was about, but Crystal kept quiet. It would probably be easier to tell Gigi while they were on their own, but she was certain she’d chicken out given the chance. Her heart lurched when the knock came. 

When Bri came to the door, there was nothing cheerful in her expression. Crystal knew how Bri was obsessed with Gigi, who she called a ‘badass-model hybrid’, but today she wasn’t even looking the woman in the eyes. Instead, her eyes fell to Crystal and there was a tearful strength in them. She was silently promising Crystal that everything was going to be fine. Gigi had picked up on the strange behaviour, glancing from Crystal to Bri. Monet’s entrance was the only thing that broke the tension. 

“Excuse me, we’re in the middle of something,” said Gigi, her arms crossed over her chest. 

“I know,” said Monet apologetically. 

“Can he stay?” Crystal asked Gigi. 

“Right, can someone sit down and explain what’s going on? You’re all making me nervous,” said Gigi with a glare at each newcomer. 

Crystal sat down beside Gigi whilst the other two stood behind her like body guards. She shuffled on her seat, conscious of the sweat in her palms. 

“Okay,” Crystal began, her throat dry, “there was something I wanted to talk to you about today but you were busy, so I thought I’d leave it.” 

Gigi softened, “I have time, you can tell me.” 

Crystal fiddled with her hands in her lap, “We wanted to come to you with it because we felt it was a good idea for it to come from someone like you. Like, if you tell HR or Violet they’ll respect it more.” 

“Are you planning a peasant’s uprising?” 

“N-no,” there was a deafening pause and Crystal felt someone’s hand rubbing her back, but she was feeling too alert and too sensitive to find it comforting. 

She took a deep breath, “Something happened and I want to report it.” 

The blood rushed from Gigi’s face and she stared, white as a ghost, “Okay. Do you want to tell me what happened?” 

With a slight nudge from someone behind her, she spoke out again, “You know when you sent me to talk to Violet? It wasn’t actually her who wanted to talk. It was the Chief. He was asking me about loyalty and, like, it was really weird. But-but then he touched my leg and kept moving his hand and…he insinuated that I have a choice to make. Either I do what he says or I lose my job.” 

“He said that?” asked Gigi, her face now devoid of emotion. Crystal thought she could see the gritted teeth and trembling lip, but she was too caught up in the relief of saying it out to really notice. 

“He did.” 

Suddenly, Gigi threw herself from her chair and, for a second, Crystal thought she was going to march upstairs and punch the Chief. But she didn’t. 

She went towards the door but turned around, holding up and shaking hand to stop the others from following her. 

“I-I really can’t hear this,” she spluttered, fumbling for the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow Crystal.”

Crystal saw red, “Wait that’s it?” 

She rose from her own chair just as quickly as Gigi had but Bri held onto her arm. She’d been looking at Monet, wondering how they were meant to react.

“It’s okay,” she murmured, though she looked ready to explode too. 

“Let her go, it’s not worth it. We don’t need her help,” said Monet. 

“No! She doesn’t get to walk away! I don’t get to walk away, so the least she can do is hear me out,” cried Crystal. 

Leaving Bri and Monet, she stormed out of the room and charged after Gigi. She could hear her friends calling her name, but it only made her go faster. Gigi had definitely been in a rush too because she’d disappeared as soon as Crystal left the room. She was alone in the corridor so she ran up the stairs, not politely waiting for anyone to go first. 

Reception was incredibly busy since Bri hadn’t bothered to find anyone to cover for her. She’d just left a note over her name badge saying ‘Back it Ten Minutes’. People were huffing, all standing around the empty desk, but none of them were Gigi.

It didn’t take long for Crystal to work out where Gigi went. There was one place where Crystal went when she needed to hide and she was sure it was a safe haven for anyone who wanted to be alone. She’d ran through security, only to be stopped by the man at the desk, who normally tried his best to ignore her. 

“Stop a minute,” he instructed and she grinded to a halt, “why are you running? Need something?” 

“Did a woman come through here a few minutes ago?” panted Crystal. 

“Women come through here all the time, but I assume you meant Miss Goode. She just left a minute ago, went towards the car park. She probably has a meeting to go to so don’t be disappointed if she’s not still there.” 

“Okay thank you!” 

She found herself onto the very busy streets, as most people were taking lunch breaks at this time. She followed the path around the corner and reached an iron gate with a keypad on the side. The numbers had taken her a long time to learn and she’d been embarrassed writing them on her hand. She argued that she didn’t need to know it since she didn’t drive, but Violet had assured her that she would. You’d never know the requirements of clients until they ask, was her advice, and some may need to meet you in the car park. So, eventually, she’d memorised the six-number code. Violet was right about it coming in handy, because through the metal bars, Crystal saw what she’d been looking for. 

Just as Crystal had been days before, Gigi was pacing around the car park. Of course, she didn’t have a cigarette in her hand but she definitely looked like she needed one. She looked stressed but Crystal didn’t stop to think. 

“Hey,” she shouted, slamming the heavy gate which caused Gigi to gasp, “what the fuck was that?” 

“Can you give me some time?” Gigi asked, her voice dripping with irritation. 

Crystal threw her hands up, “I don’t have time! I’ve got until Monday, didn’t you hear Bri?” 

“That doesn’t mean you can’t give me ten minutes.” 

“I didn’t tell you to upset you,” said Crystal, “I just wanted to talk to someone I trust.” 

Gigi walked over to Crystal, conscious that people in the street were stopping to watch them. It was surprising that no one had come out of Tchotchke considering the volume they were yelling at. She folded her arms, keeping a careful distance between them. 

“I can’t do this again, okay Crystal? Just take it straight to HR.” 

“Well, thanks.” 

“Please, Crystal.” 

“Wait,” Crystal finally calmed down, “what do you mean again? Were we right? I mean, has he done this before?” 

Gigi looked up at the few clouds above their head. Crystal couldn’t tell if she was thinking or if she was trying to stop her glittering eyes from letting the tears fall. 

“When I first got the job, it happened. Someone came to me begging for help. I did everything I could to protect them and their job but it was too late. Both of us have to see him every day and remember what he got away with. Now you have to deal with this and I’m going to be fucking helpless all over again.” 

“How far was she into it when she told you?” asked Crystal. 

Gigi shook her head, “Far enough. The blackmail was already there when I found out. If she told anyone, he could get her back much worse.” 

“So, you won’t help me because you didn’t help someone else soon enough? How is that fair?” 

“This isn’t about me,” said Gigi, “Be at our session tomorrow. We have work to do. But my advice to you is to tell as little people as possible. Go to HR, write a statement, give whatever evidence you can. Talk to his assistant, maybe. Look on the CCTV cameras. But I don’t want to hear any more about it.” 

Gigi walked away slowly, leaving Crystal to watch the back of her head. She stood there until Bri came out to find her and that’s when she let herself scream. She kicked stones, rocks and litter until she was sure her feet were bleeding and she just hoped that Gigi could feel even a touch of the rage that was currently building inside herself.


	9. Violet's Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! So this is a slightly shorter chapter because I wanted to split it into two. I felt like this part deserved it's own bit. I hope you still enjoy it! I'm moving this week so chapters might come at a slower pace but I'm working on it! 
> 
> There are specific trigger warnings for this chapter: mentions of unwanted sexual activity/coercion. This is only talked about but read at your own risk <3
> 
> I wanted to add: I know this is heavy and if anyone experiences anything like this, I won't pull a Gigi, and you can always come to me. Just a reminder that you can find me on @djoodimattel or my writing blog, @theartificialluci on Tumblr. I'll always listen <3

Crystal was surprised she hadn’t done it before. She was actually quite impressed at her restraint. But, at least now that she’d given in, it was because she was so fucking angry, not because she was being creepy. 

She was several many pages deep into a google dive of Gigi Goode. Although Gigi wasn’t really a public figure, she was well respected in the industry, which meant Crystal didn’t even have to specify any details for Gigi to come up in the search bar. 

She graduated Millikin University, one too posh and private for Crystal to have considered and became notable alumni soon after. There was a photograph of a young Gigi standing outside a huge red-brick building in a cap and gown, wearing what was probably one of her first designer dresses. She had braces and her hair was a lot longer, but it was still definitely her. The next image along was of her in the reception room at Tchotchke, standing with people Crystal didn’t know. Then again, one of her at one of their events. Crystal smiled, seeing Jaida in the background. 

Crystal wasn’t looking to delve into Gigi’s past, though, she’d actually been looking to see if anyone had published anything about this incident Gigi had mentioned. She wanted to know if deep into the internet, someone had told their story. Partly because she wanted to understand what Gigi was so afraid of, and partly so she didn’t feel so alone. 

Bri and Monet had been worrying about her. She’d been obsessing over this story and Gigi’s words all day and well into the night. Sometime after the clock had struck midnight she knew she needed some sleep, but she wouldn’t stop until she found something. The only think that pulled her from her research had been coming into work. But, even then, she’d set her laptop down in front of her desk several hours later and pretended like she was working on an important project. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t that believable considering how she hadn’t been given anything new to work on, but she put her screen brightness on low and hoped no one was too interested in what she was doing. 

By now, she had many tabs open, each one holding maybe one, small detail about Gigi. She really didn’t give much away. Compared with Crystal’s oversharing which was all over the internet, Gigi was nothing more than a ghost. 

‘…Georgina Goode, PR to the stars, is spotted alongside Mr Charles as they make their way to Tchotchke’s Fashion Runway.’

‘…Leading this debate is Goode, who leads the PR team at the House of Tchotchke. She has represented a number of clients in similar instances before, such as when a journalist was accused of plagiarism in 2016’. 

‘…The first to show off the new Charles collection is their own PR leader Gigi Goode, who wears the Vintage Rouge Cashmere Maxi to the runway.’ 

Crystal couldn’t believe not one of the articles or posts she found contained any interesting, personal detail about Gigi. Not one confession, plea or report existed on the internet to expose the Chief. He must’ve taken precautions to cover it up. Suddenly, Crystal felt sorry for Gigi. What if the woman had been threatened? The fleeting sympathy didn’t override the surge of betrayal she felt, though. Even if Gigi couldn’t help, couldn’t she have just offered some support? A hug? Something other than a reeling of procedure she could’ve gotten from a helpline? Crystal decided she’d stay angry until she received a decent explanation from Gigi. She hoped she’d get it today. It didn’t matter how hard Gigi would try and ignore what happened, Crystal wouldn’t let her. 

“Crystal,” said the person next to her, reminding her that she wasn’t alone, “I don’t think it’s any of my business and I really don’t want to invite a conversation…but why are you stalking Gigi on your laptop?” 

With a bush, Crystal shut google down and turned to look at Aquaria, “She mentioned something to me yesterday and I just wanted to see if I could find anything about it online.” 

“Something about her? Good luck, she’s a book glued shut,” scoffed Aquaria. 

Crystal nodded, “Yeah, I think I’m starting to get that.” 

She looked up and across to Jan, who was gushing about the dress Violet was letting her borrow. When she saw Crystal’s interest, she swivelled her chair so she could face both her and Jackie. 

“It’s sort of a blue-ish purple with a corset and a skirt that goes just below the knee and, oh my god, it’s beautiful! It’s by Christian Dior and Violet even said it’d been in Vogue. Crystal you would’ve loved it! I was going to send a picture but I decided it would be better to wait until the party so I can actually feel like Cinderella.”

“You’ll look amazing Jan, can’t wait to see it.” 

“But did you see the few I sent to you? I thought you’d look better in them then I ever could so I let you have first pick! I know you weren’t sure if you wanted to wear a dress but I feel like we’re so lucky to have the opportunity, you know? Like, not many people can just borrow a dress from Vogue! Especially someone who’s not even a celebrity.” 

“You were right about blue, I loved the Dolce one you sent over!” said Crystal, feeling Jan’s approach to life lift some of the weights from her shoulders. 

Jan grinned, “See, I’m a genius. I look at people and I just know what suits them. For Crystal it’s blue, for Aquaria it’s red, for Willam it’s pink and for Jackie it’s whatever colour I’m wearing.” 

“So, purple?” said Jackie with a laugh, gesturing to the lilac blouse and the matching heels that Jan had chosen for the day. 

Jan shrugged, “I always wear my favourite colour on Friday! It just feels like a celebration you know, getting to the end of the week. Not that I don’t love being here, but I do miss my dogs.” 

“I really thought you’d be a cat lady,” said Willam, barely loud enough to be heard. He was evidently hung over from yesterday. 

“No way,” said Crystal, “Jan has the energy of a golden retriever. If anyone’s a cat, it’d be you Willam.” 

“Oh, so you’ve looked up from your Gigi worship to offer your two cents, then?” he asked. 

Crystal scowled, “I’m investigating.” 

“Investigating what? How to get into a girl’s thong in three easy steps?” 

Jan squealed, “Willam, stop!” 

Willam turned his attention to Jan, “Oh for you, babe, it’ll be ‘How to get into a girl’s granny panties’.” 

Jackie squirmed under the assumption, but Crystal was sure Willam hadn’t been too far off. 

“Jan, if you don’t like it,” sighed Aquaria, “just start crying. His tiny hungover brain will go into shut down mode.” 

Willam, for once, actually looked offended, “You’d rather listen to that bitch cry than my voice? That’s harsh.” 

“Don’t call her a bitch,” snarled Jackie, whose face was burning red. 

Willam’s hands rose in defence, “Alright, not a bitch…golden retriever, I got it.” 

Crystal had almost been enjoying the conversation in room, mostly because it had distracted them from her search history, but her involvement hadn’t lasted for long. She’d zoned out when she heard her phone vibrate in her pocket. She’d picked it up and found a new message flashing up. The work room was filled with white noise now, as her eyes refused to budge from the sentence in her hand. 

Georgina: Our session started a few minutes ago. Do I need to come and get you? 

Crystal just looked down at the text. No greeting, no kiss, no messing around. It was almost like Gigi was the one who was supposed to be angry, not the other way around. With the now very familiar feeling in her chest, she decided two could play at that game. 

Crystal: Been busy. Coming now.

She rose to her feet, the squeal of her chair legs against the floor alerting the room that she was about to leave. 

“Have you been summoned?” asked Aquaria. 

“Something like that.” 

Jan looked over to Crystal with a grin, “Wait! Before you go, since it’s Friday, we were all gonna go down the street and have a drink. You in? You can invite Monet and Bri and Gigi.” 

“That actually sounds really nice,” said Crystal, “but I think Gigi’s busy.” 

Jan pouted, “That’s a shame. Still, we’d love to see you there anyway. I think Shea’s coming too, so it should be a big group.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I can make it, I’ll text you later.” 

Normally she’d be racing out of the room to twirl and skip down the stairs. But now, she was hanging onto every last word of her co-workers, even taking the time to appreciate Jan’s rambles. For the sole reason of knowing the longer she took, the more infuriated Gigi would be. So, she talked with Jan about their evening plans until Aquaria was begging Crystal to either be quiet or leave.

“See you guys later,” said Crystal. 

With purposeful, determined steps, Crystal left the room, which was still alive with noise after her exit, and began to walk to Public Relations. She slowed down her steps in a childish attempt to wind Gigi up further. She was obviously angry at Gigi, but she wanted her to think Crystal was really, really angry. It felt like a decent punishment for the way she’d been abandoned yesterday. Bri and Monet had been angry at Gigi for not doing anything, of course, but it hurt Crystal more since she’d thought they were finally becoming friends. She really thought she’d been getting somewhere. 

Walking through reception, Crystal couldn’t see Bri anywhere. Which was probably for the best, because if she found out her friend was going to meet with Gigi, she’d insist on coming with them. If she came with them, she’d definitely bring a weapon of some kind. 

Not long after, Crystal heard the familiar laugh-scream of Bri coming from the coffee machine, followed by Monet’s voice, so she darted down the stairs to avoid a confrontation. Any other day, she’d been running to them in a desperate need for a laugh or distraction. She’d force Monet to make her his famous coffee and listen to Bri’s story about a wardrobe malfunction to remind herself that some problems can be solved. She’d help Bri out and feel like her own problems can be solved as easily as a re-sewn button or trimmed thread, even if it was just for that moment. But now, she really couldn’t see them. She knew exactly how disappointed they’d be if they found out where she was going. They didn’t want Crystal to have anything to do with Gigi but she still wanted to keep her job and whether or not she liked it, Gigi was very good at hers. 

By the time she reached the Public Relations department, she was already unsure of how she wanted to play it. Should she just pretend nothing had happened and just give Gigi the cold shoulder or would it be better to cause a scene and embarrass her? Crystal decided, for once in her life, she would stop thinking about it and just see what happened when she saw Gigi again. After all, it was clear Gigi wasn’t spending any time thinking about her. 

At Gigi’s door, Crystal didn’t bother to knock, since she knew the woman was waiting for her anyway. She decided that if Gigi was going to complain, then Crystal could release the hell she was feeling. But when she did open the door, everything was calm. There was an air of peace in the room, as if someone had saged it, and Crystal found herself just wanting to tell Gigi about her day. She shook it away quickly when she’d seen Gigi and remembered how angry she really was. 

There was a chair waiting for her on the opposite side of Gigi’s desk. She made an effort not to look at Gigi properly as she pulled it back and took a seat. Her hands fell clasped together in her lap to try and hide the fact they were shaking. Crystal felt the need to fidget, as she often did under any sort of pressure, but she kept still in an effort to remain composed. 

Even after Gigi waited expectantly, Crystal wouldn’t budge, and made it clear that she wasn’t going to say a thing. Normally, in any situation, she felt the need to ramble and crack jokes until the awkwardness was gone, but she wanted Gigi to squirm this time. The woman didn’t have the social skills of her client, Crystal knew that much by now, and wondered how long it would take before Gigi broke. It wasn’t long. 

“So, I have an update for you about Thomas,” began Gigi, “he’s really eager and he’s agreed to your terms. I mean, I phrased it a little differently than what we said but still.” 

Crystal didn’t say a word. 

“Do you remember what we were talking about yesterday?” asked Gigi. 

Still, she was greeted with silence. 

“Okay. I guess I should start by saying sorry, then,” said Gigi, eyes averted. 

“That would probably be a good start.” 

“I’m sorry. I knew you were in a dark place and you had the courage to talk to me about it. I messed up. It’s just…hard to hear and I know that’s no excuse because, shit, it’s harder to experience...but it just got too much. I really am sorry.”

“I get it. I wanted to pretend it didn’t happen too.” 

Gigi seemed encouraged that Crystal finally spoke to her, “Of course you did. I was a fucking idiot for saying it’s none of my business. It’s my job to protect your image but I want to protect you.”

“You don’t have to do anything. I’ll take the advice you gave me and sort it out.” 

Crystal saw Gigi cringe before she spoke, “No, I didn’t mean that. I mean, yes, we’ll do everything I said but we’re going to do it together.” 

“What changed?” asked Crystal, maybe sounding harsher than she’d intended. 

“Please, I really am trying. I was being selfish yesterday. I’m so sorry.” 

Crystal smiled very softly, “Apology accepted.” 

“Thank God! I mean, you didn’t have to accept my apology because I don’t deserve it but I promise I’ll make it up to you.” 

“Are you coming with me to HR? Monet and Bri already promised to come, so you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 

“Crystal, I’ll be there. But…also I talked to the person from before. The first. And I asked her if she’d help build up the case with us. She said she won’t do anything until it’s out in the public. I understand her concern…if the Chief finds out he can shut us down before the press even know. It’s best to plant the seed before he can do any more damage. The problem is, she won’t be the one to tell her story. She needs you to do it first,” said Gigi. 

“This woman knows about me, then?” 

Gigi shook her head, “I didn’t give her a name. I didn’t think it was fair.” 

“I think I deserve to know,” said Crystal, “especially if I have to go public without her. I want to know that they’ll stick to their word.” 

“You trust them,” reassured Gigi. 

“Well, now you really need to tell me.” 

Gigi nodded, “I know. The world’s going to hear it soon enough anyway, too, but this will be hard for you to hear.” 

“Please.” 

Gigi sighed and repositioned herself on her chair. She put her elbows up on her desk and rested her head in her hands. For the first time, Crystal took the time to appreciate how tired Gigi really looked. Her face was always done up with makeup straight from a cover shoot, but even expensive concealer couldn’t cover the excess of dark circles under her eyes.

“I told you about when I first started and I went to lunch with Violet? That was the start of a few lunches. We stuck together since there really wasn’t any women in a position like ours. You’ve gained fame, as with Trin, Sasha and Raja but me and Violet were never really public figures. It changed when Violet became a spokesperson for Tchotchke, the Editor, and not just the assistant.” 

Crystal nodded, her mouth agape. 

“We stopped going for lunch but a few months later, we went again. She wasn’t eating a thing, hadn’t been for days. It didn’t take her long to tell me what happened. The Chief had prepositioned her. If she wanted to become the Editor, she needed to work for it. And she did. When she realised it was wrong, it was too late. If she told anyone what happened, her career would be in ruins. It took her years before she believed she was good enough for her position.” 

Crystal swallowed until her dry throat would finally let her talk, “So, she did it?” 

“She didn’t give me any details but she told me enough. We planned to go to HR the next day but since it…went too far, the Chief had too much leverage. If we took it to the public, he could say Violet was the one who suggested it, or me and her had a plan to get rid of him. But, you didn’t do it. We have a chance to fix our mistakes,” said Gigi. 

“She must’ve been so scared,” said Crystal, feeling a sudden urge to run to Violet and hug her. 

“I couldn’t count the times she cried to me,” said Gigi, her head bowed, “I’d just watch as she became less and less herself. She stopped being friendly with staff, stopped going on nights out and she didn’t believe she was good enough to stay here. She thinks her whole career is a lie, it’s why she works herself to death.” 

Crystal felt sick, “I went to see her before I saw the Chief. She was being really weird with me. She knew. She had to. I called her the next day and said I wasn’t coming in…she didn’t even ask any questions.” 

“You think she knows it’s you?” 

“I know she does. Why didn’t she stop me? She could’ve said she needed me to run an errand or…pulled the fire alarm! I don’t know.” 

Gigi looked sad again, “She has no proof and she’ll never have as much power as the Chief does. Would you have believed her, anyway?” 

“I don’t know,” said Crystal, honestly. 

“It’ll be different this time. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure this never happens again.” 

“You have a plan, then?” asked Crystal. 

“Yeah. First of all, we’re going to that meeting with Thomas’s team. I’ve scheduled it for tomorrow. You’re going to become the person everyone loves again. Then, we’re going to do a press talk and go public. We’ll take the evidence and go to court. We can get him under the Equality Act. I don’t want you to worry about any of this, though. We’ll get you to talk to a lawyer and you’ll have to testify but I want you to take some time off. I don’t want you to be here when he finds out what we’ve done.”

“I can’t just sit around all day.” 

“You won’t. I’m sending you to Shea’s place so you can partner up with her for a while. Think of it like a business trip. If it’ll help, I can send Brianna with you.” 

“You’re really doing all this for me?” asked Crystal. 

Gigi reached across the desk and grabbed Crystal’s hand in her own. Gigi’s hand was pale and soft, with white acrylics and a multitude of silver rings. Crystal’s own was tanned with short nails, chipped nail polish and had a distinct lack of rings, since she was too impatient for them. Yet, their hands fit together as if they were the same.

“I’m here for you now,” Gigi said quietly, “I’ll do better, I promise.” 

“Friends again?” asked Crystal, as a way of offering forgiveness. It was a simple gesture, but Gigi smiled like it meant the world. 

“We were friends?” 

Crystal laughed and pushed Gigi away with her free hand. She was incredibly aware that neither of them had withdrawn their hand yet but Crystal found the lingering touch more comforting than she probably should have. Gigi noticed how Crystal’s eyes fell down to their connected fingers and she began to brush the back of the journalist’s hand with her own thumb.

“You said we were having the meeting with Thomas tomorrow?” asked Crystal, feeling the need to say something. 

Gigi nodded, “I know it’s your day off, so I’m sorry about that, but I felt the quicker we sorted that problem, the sooner we can get onto the next one. It’ll be worth it, though. You’ll get paid and we could always, I don’t know, get lunch afterwards.” 

“I’ll only cancel my plans because you’re treating me to lunch.” 

“Oh, it’s like that?” asked Gigi, eyebrow raised. 

“I think that’s fair. Being wined and dined makes an excellent apology gift.” 

“Have it your way.” 

“I appreciate it, you know,” Crystal said quietly, “I thought you wouldn’t help me because it was above your pay. I’m really glad to know you just care too much.” 

Gigi smiled sadly, “I told you I care, didn’t I?” 

Crystal felt conscious and squirmed, “So, where do you want to meet tomorrow? Knowing Thomas, I assume he made the decision?” 

Gigi cleared her throat, “I was thinking I could just pick you up. He wants to meet in his office which is on the other side of LA, so it’ll take like an hour. I’m sure you’ll need help deciding what to wear too, since you have to tone it down a bit.” 

Today, to be fair to Gigi, Crystal was wearing a pink-and-purple pantsuit with masses of gold jewellery, so she supposed she didn’t have the right to be offended. 

“I don’t mind meeting you there.” 

“Seriously, I don’t mind,” waved Gigi, “it’s not like I can just let you take the bus. You wouldn’t make it out alive trying to get there.” 

“Do I get to pick the music?” 

“This isn’t a road trip, Crystal, it’s a serious business meeting. But yes, as long as it’s nothing stupid.” 

Crystal went quiet for a minute, “Do you think One Direction are stupid?” 

“Yes.” 

“Never mind then, you can choose the music.” 

Gigi exhaled out a laugh, pleased that she’d managed to recover from her actions yesterday. 

“Crystal, again, I’m really sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” 

“If there is anything else I can do for you…counselling or something, you know where to find me.” 

Crystal nodded, smiled, and got up from her feet. She’d been shaky when she’d walked in and now her legs felt a little bit unstable. She kept her hand on the back of her chair for just a moment longer to regain some control. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Gigi, who hadn’t noticed the pause, “probably around 1ish.” 

“Oh,” said Crystal, “Jan’s invited us all to go for drinks. We’ll probably meet in reception after work. I said you’d probably be busy but, I don’t know, maybe it would be nice if you came?” 

Gigi looked uncomfortable, “I know I’ve opened up to you a little…but I’m not sure I’m ready to let loose in front of the whole company.”

“They’ve seen you drunk before. Just because it isn’t a business event doesn’t mean they’ll start invading your personal life. Besides, I think you deserve a drink.” 

“I think we could all use a drink after this week,” agreed Gigi, though she didn’t specify whether or not she’d be coming. Still, it was enough for Crystal to hope.


	10. Bloody Mary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this may be my last update before I move, I decided to make it a long one. Actually, it was only meant to be 3,000 words but then it became my favourite chapter and I just kept going. I hope you guys like it and it keeps you going for a little while! As always, thank you for reading and please come find me for a chat if you want to talk about it!

When Crystal read the text from Gigi asking for her to wait up after work, she thought she must’ve been dreaming. There was no way Gigi had agreed to her invitation, no matter how much Crystal had wanted it. But, hours later, Crystal found Gigi outside of her department for a change. She was fretting nervously, barely calming down when she saw the journalist. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” laughed Crystal, seeing the wreck in front of her. 

“Do you think I shouldn’t?” 

“Maybe you should’ve had a drink before you came, Gigi, you’re a bit tense.” 

Whether Gigi was done panicking or not, the pair of them headed over to reception to meet the others. Jan and Jackie had left the work room a few minutes early after finishing their work. Aquaria had left exactly on time, but Crystal was always the last one out. There were too many things to think about, especially on the weekend when she’d have to go two days without something if she’d forgotten it. Once she’d managed to find everything, she’d been a few minutes later than everyone else. She hoped they’d waited for her, since she still had no idea where they were going. 

“Crystal,” said Gigi, “I really don’t think this is a good idea. I-I have a reputation and I need to stay professional and I can’t have even a stain on my career because my clients rely on mine to stay clean.” 

“You sound like me right now, stop panicking. I know you’re really just scared the journalists won’t like you but trust me, if you’re yourself, they will. And I mean your actual self.” 

Gigi nodded, embarrassed, and carried on walking. Crystal couldn’t help but observe the way she walked ever so slightly ahead of the journalist. They never really walked side by side, Gigi always had some sort of lead. Gigi, evidently, was used to being followed and in control. If Crystal skipped a little to close the gap, Gigi would just take one greater step than before. 

It wasn’t until they’d both heard the voices bouncing from the walls in reception that Gigi slowed down and matched her steps with Crystal. The latter made an effort to walk closer to Gigi, sensing that she was firmly regretting accepting the invitation. 

Still, the faces that greeted them were friendly, if not confused by Gigi’s presence. 

“Crystal,” said Shea, “how did I get here before you when you work here? I thought time management was on your resume?” 

“Yeah, well, having a career is on yours but here you are, being a model,” argued Crystal, sending Shea into a frenzied laugh. 

“Hey, Crystal!” said Jackie once she’d been given a chance to intervene. 

“So glad you came!” added Jan. 

Their eyes all drifted onto Gigi, like they were trying to work out who she was without looking at her. Crystal wondered if Gigi would introduce herself, but it seemed like she wanted to wait until she knew what they thought of her.

“Hi, guys, so this is Gigi, she’s going to join us tonight.” 

“The PR manager, right? Gigi Goode?” asked Aquaria. Gigi nodded, her throat dry. 

Everyone around them seemed like a predator of some kind; sharp eyes fixed onto Gigi as they tried to work her out. Willam hadn’t joined them on their evening and he was the only one who had much to say about Gigi. The others hadn’t interacted with her much, only holding their opinion from the gossip and rumours. It almost seemed like they were waiting for Gigi to tell them off. 

Crystal turned to Jan, who was the only person she could rely on to hold no prejudices against Gigi. As expected, Jan skipped up to Gigi and introduced herself. 

“Oh, I know who you are. You’re a pleasure to work with, I’ve heard, and I don’t forget comments like that,” said Gigi. 

Jan shone under the compliment and began to tell Gigi all about their plans for the evening like where they were going and what she’d be drinking. Crystal smiled, satisfied, knowing Jan would force the two to become firm friends. Jackie followed afterwards, also introducing herself, and Gigi complimented an article Jackie had written a little while ago. Crystal was incredibly impressed, but she couldn’t help but wonder if Gigi had researched the journalists before coming to see them. 

Gigi had done the same with Aquaria, who Crystal was quite surprised decided to come, and the journalist was thrilled to have someone like Gigi recognise her work. When Crystal looked over to Gigi, it seemed like the woman was starting to get uncomfortable under the niceties and was squirming. Luckily, Shea screamed Gigi’s name when it had been her turn to say hello and pulled the woman into a friendly hug. Gigi relaxed now that she’d met someone she considered a friend, and the others lost interest in the newcomer. 

Gigi had gone down wonderfully with everyone, but Crystal knew there were two more challenges she had to face. Big ones at that. 

“Are we ready to go?” asked Jan. 

“Bri said they’d be here soon, I think she wanted to change,” said Crystal, who didn’t miss the way Gigi tensed. 

“No problem,” shrugged Jan, “I wish I’d brought a spare outfit too.” 

“You don’t need to,” said Jackie, “you look great.” 

“Actually,” said Crystal, “I think she’s just around the corner so I’ll go hurry her along.” 

Then, she turned to Gigi, “Will you be okay here for a second?”

“I’ll keep an eye on her, don’t worry Crys,” laughed Shea, who’d been finding Crystal’s protectiveness endearing.

Crystal darted around to where the toilets were, knowing shit would go down if Bri and Monet got to Gigi before Crystal got to them. She found them peacefully walking towards her, both in outfits ready for a club, laughing away at one of Bri’s stories about a guest arguing with her on the desk. They squealed when they saw Crystal and hugged her in turn. 

“I’m so excited you said yes to Jan,” said Monet, “I didn’t think you’d be in the mood but, like, this is going to be great.” 

“I’m taking it easy today, Monet’s gonna go to the bar for me so I don’t come back with shots I don’t need.” 

Crystal laughed, falling into step with them, “Won’t work, I’m telling you now.” 

Just before the others came into sight, Crystal panicked and threw out a hand in front of her friends. They skidded to a halt, both glaring at the journalist. 

“What was that about?” asked Monet. 

“I have a confession to make before we go over there.” 

Bri rolled her eyes, “Can you tell us after a drink?”

They both carried on, walking just past the corner Crystal had been trying to avoid, so she had to yank them both back to her side. With wide eyes, they turned to look at her. She wanted the ground to swallow her whole. Their faces lit up in disdain and Crystal wondered how she was meant to get around this one. 

“Hold up,” said Monet, who was only held in place by Bri’s hand firmly around his wrist, “what the fuck is she doing here?” 

“Crystal,” said Bri in a falsely sweet tone, “care to explain why you’ve brought a certain someone along?” 

Crystal was extremely glad that Gigi had been talking to Shea, meaning over the volume of the second woman Gigi didn’t stand a chance of hearing what her two friends were saying. Even so, she grabbed their hands and pulled them nervously along.

“Look, I met with her today. She apologised and explained everything. I’ll tell you both tomorrow. But point is, she’s helping us now, she’s on our side.” 

“She should’ve always been on our side,” argued Monet. 

“I know that,” said Crystal, running a stressed hand through her curls, “but she had things on the line. It’s not as simple as we want it to be. Please try and go easy on her.” 

“You tell her, if she buys my drinks all night…then she’s forgiven,” said Bri. 

“What about mine?” 

“Find your own thing, Monet.” 

Gigi had noticed the discomfort on their faces from the second they approached. They busied themselves greeting the others, and Crystal just smiled sheepishly at Gigi. At least they weren’t causing a scene, she told herself, even though she knew the others had noticed the cold shoulder. 

“Are we ready to go?” asked Jan, and everyone else nodded. 

Gigi mouthed a greeting to Monet and Bri who both nodded politely, but it was clear they weren’t forgiving the woman that quickly. Crystal loved them for it and she felt guilty for wishing they’d been won over as easily as she had been. 

They all gathered their bags and purses, following Jan’s lead as they made their way through reception. She called out a goodbye to security. Jan, Jackie and Gigi led the group, the first two cluing Gigi up on everyone’s names and personalities, followed by Bri, Aquaria and Monet with Shea and Crystal at the back. Shea hummed as she walked, her strides long and graceful. 

“How come Sasha didn’t come?” Crystal asked Shea. 

“She doesn’t like stuff like this. She gets all in her head and worries about getting too drunk, or that people won’t like her.” 

“That must be hard.”

“It was in the beginning. You know, I was a young model and all I wanted to do was party. Sasha just wanted to read a book or paint. But when you’re with someone you really love, you realise that having someone to come home to is more important than anything else. The best part of my night is coming home and seeing her in stupid, colourful pyjamas with a glass of water waiting for me.” 

Crystal grinned and they sped up to walk beside the others.

“So, Jan, which bar are we going to?” asked Shea. 

“I was thinking we could go to Bloody Mary. Some customers at my mom’s place were saying how good it was. Plus, I really want a good cocktail,” answered Jan, who was basically skipping beside Jackie at this point. 

“Oh, yeah, I’ve been there. It’s got a sort of pub feel but the drinks are to die for,” said Shea. 

They all walked down the street, filling it with the sound of high-heeled shoes and laughter. The bar blended into the night on the corner of the street, painted in a black exterior. The front said ‘Bloody Mary’ in cursive, white letters. Flowers had been planted either side of the front doors and they were all bright red, an homage to the bar’s name. The only light outside came from streetlights and Crystal was glad this place was at least subtler than Heavens. 

Jan was the first to go inside, eager for a cocktail or two, and was already deep into a pleasant conversation with a waitress by the time the last of the group had closed the door behind them.

“Table for eight, please?” asked Jan when the waitress had finished telling Jan about how busy it had been earlier in the day. 

She directed them to three small tables quite close to each other with velvet stools tucked into them. The tops of the tables had been painted red and the whole place looked like a vampire’s lair with the red lights above too. Crystal loved it. Jan and Jackie took the first table, Shea, Gigi and Crystal took the next while Aquaria, Bri and Monet were on the last. They were at a distance apart where they could still talk to each other, but for convenience they stuck to their tables. 

“Jan don’t you dare get anything sugary we don’t need you tripping anymore,” yelled Shea when Jan was the first to the bar. 

She came back with a large cocktail which, to everyone’s dismay, was bright pink and glittery. Bri nearly cried when she saw it and marched up to the bartender to get her own. Monet called after her but she didn’t respond. 

“Did we not agree that I was going to the bar for her?” he groaned. 

“No one can help her now,” sighed Crystal. 

Monet, Aquaria and Shea went to the bar and each came back with vodkas. Both Shea’s and Monet’s had matching umbrellas in that they’d stolen from the bartender. 

“What do you want?” Crystal asked Gigi, “I’ll grab it.” 

“Your choice,” offered Gigi. 

Crystal went up to the bar on her own, smiling at the bartender who obviously prayed that she wasn’t going to order the same cocktail as her friends. She decided to make it easier on him and ask for vodkas like the others but decided to step it up with some shots. After all, Gigi had been right, they did deserve a drink after this week. 

When Crystal brought the drinks back on a tray, Gigi raised her eyebrows. Crystal just shrugged and picked up her shot. Gigi did the same and their tiny glasses clinked together before they both threw their heads back. Crystal almost choked when it scorched her throat and took a sip of her vodka lime to soothe it. Gigi coughed and took a sip of her own drink to stop another one. 

“So, Shea,” said Jan, “Crys was telling us about your party. You’re gonna have a theme, right? You need to.” 

Shea laughed, “Do you want to be the party planner? But yeah girl, of course. Sasha wants Alice in Wonderland or Circus but I want something like Great Gatsby.” 

“All of those sound amazing,” said Jan with shining eyes, “or what about a masquerade ball?” 

“You’ll have to remind me of that in the morning. I want it to be something that we can show off some of the collections from the issue, so it has to be black-tie. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun too, right?” 

“I’ve already picked out my dress,” agreed Jan, “but I could always do some fun makeup.” 

The conversation stayed on Shea for a while. Jan was too excited about the event to let Shea get away with not answering her questions. Then Jackie wanted to know about Jaida, and whether or not she was definitely coming. They reminisced about her and about Nicky while Shea filled them in on what the two models were up to at the moment. 

Then they turned to Gigi, asking her all about her job. Gigi, to her credit, managed to keep Jan and Jackie entertained with a few stories, many of them about Willam. The conversation never went far from work, considering it was the one thing they all had in common, but it was a fun conversation nevertheless. 

“We’re going to the toilets, we’ll be back soon,” said Jan, with Jackie in tow. They’d both made Gigi feel welcome and Crystal was sure the woman was sad to see them go. Even if it wouldn’t be for long, the conversation had flowed so well. 

After a while, just Gigi, Monet, Shea and Crystal were left on the tables. Monet had moved to sit next to Shea when they’d started talking celebrity guest list for the party. 

“What makes you think you’ll be invited?” teased Shea. 

“Oh baby,” said Monet, “there is no party without me. You know how fun it’ll be, you can picture it.” 

Gigi and Crystal had moved along to a table of their own after getting another drink and sharing some fries in the middle of the table. They’d both been trying to listen to the conversation going on near them, but they both had other things on their mind. 

When Crystal had drifted out of the conversation, Gigi seemed to do the same, and tapped her on the shoulder to make sure she was okay. Crystal jumped, like she hadn’t been expecting it, but turned with a smile when she realised who had poked her. 

“How are you feeling?” asked Gigi. 

“Pretty drunk, but, like, I could do better.” 

“No, I mean, you’re feeling safe, right?” 

Crystal smiled at Gigi, who was slightly blurry, “You don’t have to keep checking up on me. You know I’ll come to you if I don’t feel safe.” 

Gigi looked surprised, “You’d do that?” 

“Well, yeah, I trust you now. Friends and everything,” mumbled Crystal, worried that maybe she’d overstepped. 

“I’m glad you feel like that. Do you want another drink, or have you had enough?” 

Crystal laughed, “Oh, I’m not done yet.” 

With a disapproving smile, Gigi stood up and slung her tiny handbag over one shoulder. She made her way towards the crowded bar and Crystal watched her go. Her mind cleared to think about the way Gigi walked, the way eyes fell onto her and bodies moved aside to make room for her. Crystal watched men nod at each other, trying to convince themselves that Gigi Goode was even remotely in their league. Gigi paid them no interest, simply ordering her drinks, to the annoyance of girls who’d been waiting ages already. 

Monet spun around and leaned over to talk to Crystal now that she was alone. He lowered his voice so Shea couldn’t hear. 

“Have you seen Bri?” he asked. 

“No, God, she’s not starting a fight, is she?” 

Monet grinned, “Oh, she’s starting something.” 

Crystal scanned the room, noticing that there was only two people missing who hadn’t announced it to the group. She let out a giddy laugh, wondering how Bri had the bravery. For just a moment, she felt jealousy, but it passed when she heard Monet’s own laughter over hers. 

“We won’t be seeing her tonight,” said Monet. 

“Good for her.” 

“You’re next,” said Monet in a sing-song voice when he’d noticed Gigi had turned away from the bar with two drinks carefully balanced in her hands. Monet turned back to Shea, very obviously showing that he’d give the two their space. 

Her limbs didn’t even tremble when she brought the cocktails over and the fruit on the glass edge didn’t even move. She leaned down and gave Crystal the first one; deep red with glitter and berries floating on top. She grinned at the spiral straw Gigi had picked up from the side of the bar. Her own cocktail was clear with floating leaves of mint and a slice of lime on the edge, which Gigi squeezed into her drink. 

“You know,” said Crystal, “you could’ve just brought be a shot. I’m not that high maintenance.” 

Gigi wrinkled her nose, “Don’t tell me you’d rather have Sourz.” 

“My budget is more: taking drinks from the bar and hoping the person paying doesn’t notice.” 

“You better be joking,” asked Gigi, laughing anyway. Crystal shot her a look that said, obviously. 

“Are you enjoying it? I mean, I know this isn’t your thing and you’re with strangers.” 

“Yeah, it’s nice. I don’t do friends, so it’s nice to have some for the night.” 

The sickly-sweet cocktail on her tongue persuaded Crystal to ask, “We are actually friends now though, right? No more mean-Gigi?” 

“You thought I was mean?” 

“That’s beside the point. Answer the question.” 

“Yes, we’re friends.” 

“Hey, you two,” called over Monet, who’d been waiting for the appropriate time to interrupt, “Shea thinks she’s better at pool than me. You two wanna join teams?” 

Crystal looked at Gigi, who smiled, “I’m quite good myself, actually.” 

Monet slammed his hand on the table, “Two models think they can outsmart the coffee boy? You think you have the skills of a barista?” 

“Oh, little boy thinks he can handle all this?” said Shea, who was a boisterous but sophisticated drunk at this point. 

“I know how you take your coffee, princess, that’s all I need to know. You’re about to get demolished.” 

“Are you sure we need to get involved?” laughed Gigi. 

“Scared to lose?”

Monet jumped to his feet and guided Shea to the pool table. Crystal loved how the model was obsessed with Monet even though the two had only met today. They bounced over to the table, both digging around in their pockets for a coin. 

Gigi stood up to join them, lifting her cocktail to her lips and drinking it all down in a couple of gulps. Crystal thought about doing the same with her own, but the thought made her feel dizzy. 

“Let’s go,” said Gigi, pulling at Crystal. 

The pool table was in a section of the bar Crystal would normally be too scared to visit. There was a fish tank on a table, with a fairly happy looking goldfish, and plenty of abandoned glasses around it. There was a dart board beside the pool table as well, with plenty of marks on the white walls from people playing who thought they’d have better aim. Crystal never understood why bars and pubs had darts, it always seemed like a recipe for disaster to her. The carpet below them was red with a faded yellow pattern over it, presumably atrocious to hide the stains. 

Shea was setting up the balls in the triangle, while Monet told her she was doing it wrong, and Crystal wondered if she should tell them that she’d only ever played pool once. She decided she could figure it out as they went along and took another sip from her cocktail. 

“You’re just like Sasha,” Shea was saying, “she insists that’s not how you set them up but does she have a clue how to? No.” 

“I don’t have to be right to know you’re doing it wrong,” said Monet, “how have you made them into a square? Now I know you don’t play with balls.” 

Shea picked up a cue, shaking with laughter, “Okay, teams are Shea and Gigi, Monet and Crys. I’ll start.” 

With an impeccable aim that made Monet sweat, Shea moved the cue ball into the triangle and sent the balls all over the table. She handed the cue to Monet, who was also surprisingly good, and he managed to put the orange. He swung around, nearly hitting Shea with his cue, to high five Crystal. 

Gigi picked up hers and Crystal watched with awe as she pressed her body to the table, arching her back, lining up her cue perfectly with her eyeline. It took her a little while to position herself but once she did, she sent the cue backwards, then forwards, to collide with the cue ball. She jumped up happily when the blue and the red fell into two different holes, giving her team the advantage. 

“Nice going,” Shea beamed, sipping on a rum and coke. 

“Told you,” Gigi said. 

“Go on Crystal, show them how it’s done,” encouraged Monet. 

Monet handed her a cue and she studied it for a minute. It felt heavier than she thought it would, since she couldn’t really remember. She’d been focussed on watching the three of them to learn how it was done, but she hadn’t quite been sure what they did with their hands. She made a bridge with her hands, like when you’re cutting a vegetable, and slide the cue between her index finger and her thumb. It didn’t feel like she had much control and she was proven right when she’d missed the ball entirely. She tried again, hoping maybe it was just an accident, but again she missed. When Monet snorted, her face flushed with embarrassment. 

“You’ve got one more try,” teased Shea. 

Gigi stood up from the table she’d been leaning on and moved towards Crystal, who was still struggling to hold the cue right. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” said Shea, “you can’t help the enemy, Goode.” 

“Don’t you want to win because we’re good, not because Crystal’s bad?” asked Gigi, shooting Crystal an apologetic look when the woman glared. 

“Fair point, proceed.” 

“Rest the cue over your knuckles,” said Gigi, eyeing up the target ball in front of them, “keep steady and aim for that one in front of us. Practice a few times and then hit it, not too powerful.” 

Hunched over, Crystal put the cue between the knuckles of her middle and index fingers. Gigi put a hand on her back to encourage her to go lower to the table. She stared at the ball until it doubled. With a gulp, she brought back the cue, practicing, only for it to go wildly in the wrong direction. She huffed, embarrassed. 

“You’re fine,” reassured Gigi, “more like this.” 

One of Gigi’s hands fell over the one with the cue and the other held Crystal’s wrist. With her chin resting on Crystal’s shoulder, she guided her hand. Crystal was confident she had nothing to do with it when the cue came into contact with the cue ball and slammed into the red one ahead. It ricocheted off the side and landed in the hole with force. Gigi jumped up with a triumphant smile and Crystal cheered, even though internally her whole body was vibrating from the interaction. 

“You think you can do that again?” asked Shea. 

“Only if you let Gigi help every time.” 

“Well young apprentice,” said Gigi, “I’m going to get another drink, so let’s see if you can handle your next shot on your own.” 

“What do you mean?” pouted Crystal. 

“You get a free go now,” laughed Shea. 

“Oh, shit.” 

The others laughed as Crystal whined, picking up the cue again. Without Gigi watching her she felt slightly more at ease. She tried to remember what she’d been told and, even though she hadn’t putted any more, she did hit the cue ball this time, so the others considered it to be a victory. 

By the time Gigi had come back, Shea had taken her go and putted another ball and Monet had gone again, but he’d missed. Gigi came back with a double gin and tonic, giving it to Crystal to sip while she took her go. 

“If you carry on drinking like this, you won’t even be able to see the table, let alone the ball,” said Crystal, her throat stinging from the excess of alcohol. 

To prove a point, Gigi putted another ball. Crystal groaned, knowing she was up yet again. She positioned herself as she had before and pretended like she could feel Gigi guiding her. She tried to remember how Gigi had moved the both of them and she pushed the cue. At first, it hit the cue ball which then bounced off a yellow. The ball moved and Crystal held her breath. Very slowly it rolled towards the hole and, after what felt like minutes, it rolled it. Monet pulled her into a hug. 

“You’re like our very own Earl Strickland,” sang Monet. 

They carried on playing, each taking it in turn to get another drink, until eventually Jan and Jackie came to see them. Crystal pretended she hadn’t seen Jan’s uncharacteristic lack of lipstick. They looked flushed, like they’d been dancing on an imaginary dance floor. 

“Where’ve y’all been?” asked Shea. 

“You know Jan makes me do karaoke with her every time she drinks! I don’t know why she bothers, she’s always the best singer. And it’s not like they give away any prizes,” laughed Jackie. 

“Yeah,” said Jan, “but I get to be the best!” 

“Who’s winning this?” asked Jackie.

“The models,” grumbled Monet, “only because Crystal is shit though.” 

“Hey, what happened to me being Earl Strickland?” 

“It’s fine,” said Jan, “pool’s a hard game to play. I bet you’d beat them at something else.”

“Well we’re not playing darts, not looking at the state Gigi’s getting herself into,” said Shea. 

“Do you guys want to try karaoke? I think they’re doing it until midnight,” offered Jackie. 

If Shea hadn’t been happy before, the mention of karaoke caught her attention and she perked up. Her cue was abandoned on the table and she clapped her hands.

“Yes ma’am,” said Shea, “one of you has to film mine for Sasha though. She fucking loves it when I rap. She’s actually not too bad herself, but don’t tell her I said that.” 

“This I want to see,” said Monet. 

They chased after Jackie and Jan, who was definitely going to sing again, to where the dodgy microphone was projecting a man’s voice to a small crowd upstairs. They left Crystal and Gigi. Before Crystal could pick up her vodka, which she was mostly finished with, Gigi stumbled and Crystal instinctively reached for her. 

“I’ve never seen you this drunk,” cackled Crystal, who’d been feeling pretty much the same. 

“I’m sorry about before,” Gigi spat out, darting towards Crystal and putting her arms around her. 

The hug caught her by surprise and when they collided they both ended up swaying on the spot, stumbling to stay upright. Crystal had not had Gigi down as a touchy drunk, but she wasn’t opposed to the idea either. Gigi let out a breathy laugh and Crystal could smell the alcohol burning on the woman’s lips. The tequila glittered on her bottom lip like gloss. Even though the smell normally made Crystal gag, she didn’t this time. To be fair, though, Crystal was sure hers couldn’t be much better. 

Still holding Gigi loosely, Crystal said, “How many times are you going to apologise?” 

Gigi beamed and her eyes were glassy, like the shot glass she’s been making friends with for the past hour. Then, she leaned in close, like she was about to tell Crystal a secret. 

“I think I need the toilet.” 

“Lucky for you, Georgina, the toilets are right behind you.” 

Gigi’s laugh was breathier than the first time and Crystal couldn’t help but squirm. Gigi’s nails were pressed ever so slightly into Crystal’s arm and she was incredibly conscious of how they felt against her skin. 

“You have to come with me.” 

Crystal hadn’t thought Gigi was a girl’s girl, and thought the woman was very much above having to ask friends to come to the toilet with her. Besides, they weren’t in college anymore. When Crystal found herself pressed closer to Gigi, she realised she’d been right. Gigi’s hands were firm on Crystal’s arms and it felt like she was about to lead the journalist in a slow dance. Except, neither of them dared to move. There was barely an inch between them but Gigi had the advantage and their noses were so close to touching that it was like there had been a string of electricity between them. Crystal hadn’t looking up, knowing how Gigi’s eyes were trained on her, but her chin lifted involuntarily to meet her regardless. Her breath hitched slightly as she processed. 

She wasn’t stupid. It was clear they were both drunk, and nothing Gigi was saying would have any weight to it by the time they left the bar. It was stupid, maybe a bit reckless, but if Bri could do it why couldn’t she? 

Crystal released Gigi, even though the woman’s nails were still imprinted on her body and gestured with dark eyes that she’d follow. With a lopsided smirk, Gigi moved towards the toilet. She slid her hand into Crystal’s, giving it a very slight pull. Crystal was mesmerised, like a pirate being led to the rocks by a siren, but a loud ring from Crystal’s pocket made them both jump. 

With instant regret, Crystal reached into her pocket to find out who the culprit was. She saw a selfie of herself and a small blonde on a night out just earlier in the week, and the Ritz cracker emojis for a name were enough for Crystal to know she wasn’t getting out of this phone call easily. 

“It’s Bri,” said Crystal, her voice only just coming back to her. 

“She could be in trouble again,” said Gigi. 

“But she’s probably not.” 

“She’s probably not,” repeated Gigi, and whether or not she knew it, she was in the ladies room doorway. 

The ringing didn’t stop. Crystal wanted to strangle the person who invented technology and bury them herself. 

“Hello, Bri?” she said irritably. 

“H-hi?” came a quiet squeak from the other end, “Crys…I-I made my move with Aquaria and-and we were talking for ages and we kissed and it was going well but she pushed me away and s-said she was being stupid and that I needed to leave her alone. I feel so stupid.” 

It was hard for Crystal to understand between Bri’s hiccups, but she got the gist. 

“Where are you?” 

“Smoking area.” 

“Okay, we’re coming.” 

“Fuck sake,” murmured Gigi. 

“We can make it quick,” said Crystal, leaning forward to make sure her breath was felt on the back of Gigi’s neck. She didn’t miss the shiver, in fact she was pretty sure it would be ingrained in her mind forever. 

Gigi giggled, “Come on, go help your friend.” 

The smoking area of the bar was really just the concrete out front, separated from crowds by velvet rope. There was nowhere to sit, so most of the smokers were either jumping from one foot to the other to keep warm or had given up and were just sitting on the floor. Every now and again the bouncer on the door would take a break from checking IDs and would look to make sure they were all behaving. The bouncer had obviously not been around for a while, because there was an impressive crowd forming. 

“I don’t see Brianna,” said Gigi.

“I know exactly where she is,” said Crystal, pointing to the middle of the crowd.

Gigi nodded and began to push her way through the crowd, ignoring the curses coming from those she shoved aside. It didn’t take her long to get to the middle of the crowd and Crystal watched as she looked down to the ground in the middle of it. Confused, Crystal also pushed forward, telling the crowd to back up and give them space. The crowd fell away and the two women were greeted with Brianna sitting on the floor, her makeup smeared across her cheeks. It was an alarming sight anyway, but her sobbing was even more concerning. 

“Hey, Bri, that you?” asked Crystal.

The sniffling stopped and Bri looked up, squinting, trying to work out who’d said her name. 

“Oh,” she said hoarsely, “you’re not her.” 

There was a girl hovering beside Bri, a plastic cup of water in her hands. Judging by the droplets of water on Bri’s chin, the girl had been forcing her to drink it. She hadn’t left with the rest of the crowd and furrowed her eyebrows worriedly at Bri. 

“Do you know her?” asked Crystal. 

The girl shook her head, “No, I came out for some air and she was stumbling around and crying. Are you her friends? I was hoping she wasn’t here alone because she’s drunk as hell.” 

Bri turned her head towards the girl, still sniffling, and the girl offered her some more water. Gigi, who wasn’t in a great state herself, looked down at Bri in horror. 

“How have we seen Brianna on the verge of death twice this week?” she asked. 

“Is that her name?” asked the girl, “I couldn’t really make out what she was saying.” 

Crystal looked at the girl. She was tanned and short, though not as short as Bri, with deep purple lipstick still intact on her lips. Her dark brown hair fell in wild curls above her shoulders. She looked to be the same age as Bri, though obviously more mature.

Gigi had put her hand on the pole that held up the rope around them, despite the signs asking for customers not to lean on them, to keep herself steady. Crystal wondered why the other woman was staring so intently at the girl. 

“Do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar,” asked Gigi. 

The girl shrugged, “Do you know Heavens?” 

“Yeah.”

“I’m one of the entertainers there. A comedian actually, I do a couple of stand-up shows a week,” said the girl.

“Oh, cool! Do you work with Laila? Don’t tell her about Bri.” asked Crystal. 

“Why not?” 

“That’s her sister.” 

“Noted, no bitching about the drunk wreck at work,” nodded the girl, adding an, “I’m kidding.”

“Well, thank you for looking after her. We’re going to go and put her in a taxi now and drag her ass home. For the second time this week,” said Crystal. 

Crystal leaned down to Bri, giving her a warm hug. She was really hoping that Bri wasn’t actually heartbroken, and that she was only an emotional drunk, but she could feel the disappointment for her friend. She hoped her meeting the next day wouldn’t take too long. Maybe she could get Gigi to drop her off to Bri’s with some ice cream after. 

“Hey,” said the girl just before Crystal coaxed the two women to leave, “do you think you could pass this note along to Brianna? I would sleep better if I heard from her. You know, since I have no idea how she’s meant to live after that much alcohol consumption.” 

The girl handed Crystal a note with a phone number scrawled on it with the name ‘Jujubee’ beneath it. She handed it shyly to Crystal, who put it in her pocket. The note also read, ‘This is the girl who sat with you outside Mary’s. Let me know you’re okay if you can pry yourself from the toilet bowl in the morning x’. 

“Yeah of course, I’ll leave it on her bedside table and hopefully she won’t vomit on it,” said Crystal.

“That’s not my real name by the way, just a stage name. But I’m not telling a girl who won’t even remember me tomorrow what my actual name is,” explained Jujubee. 

“Is it worse than Crystal Methyd?” asked Gigi, who earned herself a pinched on the arm. 

“Oh, no way! You’re Crystal, and you’re Gigi, aren’t you?” asked Jujubee excitedly. 

“Yeah that’s us,” Crystal answered awkwardly. 

“I’ve never been much of a fashion girl,” said Jujubee, “but I like your articles about the industry and advocacy. I have a friend, her name’s Raven, and she buys it for the fashion but she gives it to me after.” 

“Glad you like our work,” said Gigi as she tried to convince a distraught Bri to leave the ground. 

“Right, are you sure you don’t need help with her before you go? I hate to leave someone like this,” asked Jujubee. 

“Actually,” said Gigi, “do you think you could watch her for two minutes? We just need to call our group and let them know what’s going on.” 

“Oh, yeah, no problem. We’ll be here.” 

Gigi thanked Jujubee and walked until they were far enough away that they could no longer hear Bri’s crying or the thud of music from the bar. Crystal followed, feeling too awkward about being recognised to stay with the others. It wasn’t late enough that people were dancing in the street or throwing up on the pavement and Crystal was enjoying the peace outside. The sky was dark, the air was cold and street lights reflected amber from the wet asphalt. Crystal hadn’t realised it had rained, but it made sense since the air was so crisp. They didn’t walk too far, just turned a few corners, but Crystal felt like she could walk for miles. She almost asked if Gigi would just lie in the street with her for a while. Gigi, however, was in much more of a rush. 

She wondered why Gigi was the one who’d had the idea to call the others, since she wasn’t even friends with them, except for Shea. Besides, Crystal herself wouldn’t have bothered. They were adults, and she was sure they would just assume someone had to take Bri home. Monet might just be grateful it wasn’t him for once. But Gigi had other ideas. 

She didn’t take her phone out of her pocket or ask for Crystal’s. Instead, she waited for Crystal to look up at her, for her to take a break from their busy surroundings. The brief moment of nothingness calmed Crystal and, once her body relaxed, Gigi reacted to it. 

The wind was knocked from Crystal’s body when Gigi grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her backwards into the wall of the building beside Bloody Mary’s. The brick was cold against her clothes but she was sure it wasn’t the night that made her shiver. For just a second, it was like no one was sure what to do. Crystal was pressed against the wall with Gigi positioned over her, but no one moved. It felt like when you’ve been bombarded with noise but all of a sudden it stops. 

There must’ve been a battle going on inside Gigi’s head and either her mind or her heard must’ve won, Crystal wasn’t sure which, because she found Gigi leaning in. With her head ever so slightly tilted, she took one hand and placed it on Crystal’s cheek. It rested under Crystal’s jaw, pulling her face up to meet Gigi’s. 

Their lips met gently and to her surprise it was Crystal who deepened it. Her eyes squeezed shut the moment they had made contact with each other, but she couldn’t help sneaking a glance every time she needed air. How else was she meant to be sure she hadn’t just drunk too many deceivingly-pleasant cocktails and had found some desperate man at the bar to pretend to be the one person she wanted? Had she even admitted that to herself before? She supposed now, with the knot in her stomach and the way she melted under the touch, she couldn’t really deny it anymore. 

Neither of them was brave enough to capture the moment. Crystal wanted to trace her fingers over Gigi’s body, to kiss down her neck like she owned it and leave marks on her skin but she knew she couldn’t. None of this passion was hers to keep. 

Both of their lips stayed touching ever so slightly, like they were held together by a breath, as they wondered what they were supposed to do next. Neither one of them wanted to move, because then it would be over. Even though they were drunk, they knew they didn’t have the luxury of time. Crystal noticed how Gigi’s breathing had started to slow down but it spilled from her parted lips like she was running out of it. In the quiet of the moment, Crystal heard an echo behind her. 

“Do you hear something?” whispered Crystal, when she thought her ears caught the sound of footsteps hitting a puddle. 

The only thing keeping them apart was the footsteps that grew louder, pounding the corner keeping them private. They moved away from each other but their arms brushed together and Crystal was sure she’d felt Gigi trying to entwine their fingers. Neither of them reacted when two people turned the corner.

“Guys,” called Bri, who had very slightly lost the slur to her words, “this girl’s called Airline. How fucking funny is that?”


	11. A Road Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! As expected, living in a house with 8 people is as chaotic as I imagined, but somehow I found time to finish this chapter. I really hope you like it! Thank you for waiting for an update and I hope the next one doesn't take a long time but bare with!

It hadn’t been a dream. Crystal knew she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, due to the pounding of her head, but she’d been over it many, many times and she had at the very least convinced herself that it had been real. Firstly, she found photos on her phone which she very much remembered taking, and she remembered them occurring just before the ‘incident’, which she’d decided to call it. 

Secondly, she found very subtle red marks on the back of her body from the wall she was sure she was stood against. The way they etched themselves into the back of her arms was exactly where they’d be if she played the incident over in her head. And lastly, the most convincing, was that she could feel the tremble and tingling in her lips. She didn’t normally feel like that after a night of alcohol. 

She’d woken up in time to get ready for the meeting, thank God, but she’d spent precious time just staring at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t her body she was interested in, exactly, but more the marks left on it. She’d touch them and watch them as if she were waiting for them to dissolve into her skin. It was like the imprints were breath on a mirror and she was waiting for it to leave her. 

Before she felt herself fall apart at the thought of having to see Gigi, she decided to rush and get dressed. Before, she would’ve thought Gigi would’ve wanted to come in and decide what Crystal was going to wear, but now she knew the woman would be too awkward. Instead, she chose a flattering, toned-down black dress with white heels and a tiny white bag. She barely put any make-up on, none that Thomas would be able to distinguish from a natural face anyway. Her hair was messy as always but she left it as it was, knowing she couldn’t stand to look at herself if she wore it in a fancy bun or something as well. When she looked approachable, she decided Gigi would approve. 

She still had a decent amount of time to get ready, so she put a little more eyeliner on and lipstick, telling herself it was for her, not Gigi. Not that she really believed that herself. 

Crystal sat on the edge of her bed, feeling sick from everything but the alcohol she consumed last night. Her heart was thumping and seemed to be the happiest it’s been in a long time. She had some sort of hope now, knowing that Gigi felt at least something. But there was something very strong in her body wondering why she’d made such a stupid, reckless decision. She’d given in and now Gigi probably thought she was in love with her. It wasn’t as if rumours of her sexuality hadn’t been in the front of the newspapers before and it certainly wasn’t being forgotten about after her words with Thomas. Crystal thought back to when Gigi had asked her if she was gay. She hadn’t said it with any malice, but something had felt strange. Maybe Crystal had just lost her one chance to save her job. It was weird, though, because in this moment she wasn’t even worried about her career. All that mattered to her was Gigi. Fucking their friendship had felt even worse than when she’d come away from her interview with Thomas, face beetroot red, looking at the horrified faces of her representatives. 

Crystal had to visibly shake herself to stop herself from thinking about it. She grounded herself by looking through her apartment and checking off everything she needed for the day. She’d found her credit card, her sunglasses, her phone, some snacks, a water bottle and a hairband before she decided she’d be ready to leave. It wasn’t long after that she received a text from Gigi. 

Georgina: Just around the corner, wait for me outside. Hope you’re awake sunshine. 

Just like that, the fears all washed away like the tide and Crystal felt herself relax. She’d been half expecting Gigi to call her and cancel or say that she was going to the meeting alone. This was something. 

As instructed, Crystal gathered her belongings, took a sip of the cold coffee on the table, and went outside to meet Gigi. She climbed down and when she pulled the door open, she realised how nice of a day it was. The sun was beating down on them and very few clouds ruined the bright sky. Crystal was praying with all her heart that pathetic fallacy was a real thing. She calmed herself down by tilting her head up to the sun and basking in it. Without the heavy makeup she usually adorned like a security blanket, the sun seeped into her skin and for just a moment she felt unbelievable peace. 

When the honk of a car came thundering from ahead, she gasped in shock and threw her eyes open so fast they nearly popped out of her head. It really wasn’t the wake-up she needed, but the shadowed figure in the driver’s seat seemed to find it hilarious. The car was black, which was about the extent of Crystal’s car knowledge, but she did see the tell-tale logo of a BMW on the front. It really wasn’t difficult to work out who the car belonged to. Especially when her heart started to race. 

Crystal honestly thought she was going to combust when she found Gigi’s car in front of her home. She thought flames would circle her feet and swallow her up the moment Gigi rolled down her window, smiled, and beckoned Crystal forward. She laughed warmly when Crystal didn’t move. 

“Do you want me to come and open the door for you?” asked Gigi. 

Crystal stuttered a response. That was it. Gigi, who normally needed no excuse to be awkward or cold, was even more joyful than Jan. She wondered for a wonderful moment if Gigi had thought as much of their kiss as she had. Maybe she expected them to have more? Maybe Gigi was whisking her away to somewhere romantic, like Paris. 

The truth wasn’t even buried deep down in Crystal’s mind. Some logical part of her brain wouldn’t let her forget that Gigi would never value a kiss in a bar more than her reputation. The reality was proved right as soon as Crystal walked around to the passenger side of the car and hopped in. She fumbled with her seatbelt, clicking it in the wrong place the first few times she'd tried. 

“I’m proud of you for getting out of bed. It honestly took me a while. I must’ve drank more than I thought, because the only thing I can remember is being good at pool,” said Gigi, checking over her shoulder to see if she could pull away. 

“That’s it?” asked Crystal, her voice a little too high pitched for her liking. 

“Yeah. You know, I’m not really good at drinking. When you’ve seen me drunk before, it’s just been from a drink or two. But I wanted to impress everyone so I guess I went too far.” 

“Well, you didn’t miss a lot,” said Crystal, even though she could feel her heart sinking down through her body. 

“Still, it was a good night from what I remember. Thank you for the invite, you really didn’t have to do that. I know we’re friends now, but if you wanted to keep it just office hours, I’d get it.” 

“If I wanted to keep it office hours, I wouldn’t be here.” 

Gigi laughed, but Crystal couldn’t find her own voice. She couldn’t believe she’d gone to sleep feeling dizzy and giddy, woken up feeling a torrent of emotions, only for Gigi to not remember it. If it only existed in Crystal’s memory, then it basically didn’t happen. The hurt was intense and Crystal turned to look out the window in a desperate attempt not to bring it up in front of Gigi. She couldn’t, surely? This was like a second chance for her. Maybe someone knew that one kiss could destroy everything, so they took pity on Crystal. That was what she’d have to tell herself, anyway. 

When she finally braved a look to Gigi, the woman was focused on the road but trying to open up Spotify on her phone. It took her a few tries to find the right app. 

“I bet you think I don’t even listen to music,” laughed Gigi, waiting for her phone to load up Spotify, “or you think I have a really pretentious playlist.” 

When Crystal didn’t answer, Gigi didn’t seem bothered, and clicked onto her recently played songs. The first was one Crystal knew, not well enough to sing but enough to hum, and she was pretty sure it was by Christina Aguilera. Gigi did know all the words, though, and mouthed them to herself as she drove. Crystal watched the way her pale blue eyes squinted at the yellow sun and wondered how she didn’t appear to have even a single worry in her head. One hand was on the steering wheel and the other was hanging out of the car window like it belonged to a truck driver. Gigi would never have to worry about the tan though, she was always pale. Crystal’s skin on the other hand thrived in the sun. But even basking in it couldn’t change her mood. 

She wouldn’t say she was angry, she was just very, very confused. Firstly, she was confused as to why she actually let herself lean in and secondly, she didn’t understand why Gigi barely remembered that they went out. If she hadn’t known any better, she might’ve thought that she’d made the whole thing up. It had all been some dream and poor Gigi had been caught in the middle of her fantasy. But Crystal had seen the nail marks on her skin. And she was pretty sure she’d seen the scratches on Gigi. 

“Are you nervous?” asked Gigi, who’d misread Crystal’s inner dialogue. 

Crystal nodded, knowing it would be easier to explain her thoughts about Thomas than her thoughts about Gigi. 

“It’ll be fine, you know. You don’t have to worry about anything and I’ll be with you the whole time. How about some Madonna instead? Surely that will cheer you up? If you really need it, you can have One Direction, but I promise you won’t find any of it on my phone.” 

Crystal could only smile weakly. 

They drove for a while before either of them felt comfortable with each other. Their conversations never went further than Thomas or the weather. Crystal didn’t want to fill in the blanks of last night, so instead she avoided mentioning it all together. 

Crystal zoned out until the end of a song came through the phone’s speaker and the next began. She recognised it from the first few lines. Her foot tapped and her fingers drummed on her thighs. 

“I would, but first of all let me say…” 

Gigi didn’t turn her head, “Huh?” 

“I must apologise for acting, stinking, treating you this way…” 

For a moment, Gigi stared forward, frowning, and then the frown dispersed when she realised what was going on. She stayed quiet, listening to Crystal gain confidence. 

“It’s your fault you didn’t shut the refrigerator, maybe that’s the reason I’ve been acting so cold,” sang Crystal, louder now, blowing out a breath when she’d finished the line. 

“If I could escape,” Gigi joined in, much quieter, “And recreate a place as my own world and I could be your favourite girl.” 

Crystal beamed at her. 

“I didn’t know you knew the words,” Gigi said breathlessly when they’d perfectly, though horrendously, sang through the chorus. 

“Are you kidding, that was my anthem when I was young.” 

“I’ll send you the playlist,” said Gigi, “you’ll love it.” 

“I’ll make you one,” said Crystal, “I know you’ll hate it.” 

“We’ll see Miss Methyd, we’ll see.” 

They sung together for a while and Crystal’s voice became so hard to listen to that Gigi had the music on full volume to drown her out. It didn’t work because Crystal always found that being a bad singer was way more interesting than being a good one. If you were good at karaoke, like Jan, it’s no fun. People want to hear you crash and burn, which happens to be one of Crystal’s talents. Gigi, on the other hand, was very much a decent singer. Crystal wouldn’t buy the album but listening to her was nice enough. They harmonised in all the worst way possible. 

By the time they’d gotten through half of Gigi’s favourite songs, and a One Direction special Crystal had thrown in, their voices were hoarse and their heads were pounding. In hindsight, it hadn’t been a good idea considering they were still feeling fragile. They didn’t speak much afterwards, both resting their voices and the only sound was the occasional angry grumble from Gigi when someone cut her off. 

Crystal had been staring blankly at her phone, watching the clock change, but thankfully a message rang through to distract her. She knew it was either from Monet or Bri, but she was glad to see Bri’s name. She’d been worried about her friend. 

They’d spoken in the early hours about their nights, considering how both of them had the complete opposite of experiences and in the drunken haze they’d found it funny. But now, Bri was dealing with the fact she’d been used and Crystal had to comprehend that she was the only one who remembered what happened. 

Cracks: Good luck today girl. You better come see me when you get home because I’m still losing my mind over here. 

Crystal: I’ll be over asap. Don’t be sad tho she’s not worth it.

Cracks: True, at least my crush remembers kissing me.

Crystal: You’re such a bitch.

Cracks: <3

“Who’s that?” asked Gigi. 

“Oh, it’s Bri. She had a bit of a rough night.” 

“Did she get really drunk again? I think I remember something like that happening.”

“She did something she knew she’d regret, so she’s kicking herself. She met someone really nice though, apparently, they’ve been texting. The girl’s called Airline.”

“What, like an actual airline?” asked Gigi. 

“Yeah, I asked Bri about it but she said she doesn’t want to bring it up yet. She said she’d tell me why as soon as she finds out.” 

“That’s hilarious. You have to tell me as well.” 

So, Gigi didn’t remember Bri’s breakdown or meeting Jujubee either. Crystal supposed, at least, that meant she hadn’t just been blocking out the memory of them. 

“Did you have a good night?” prompted Crystal, even though she regretted it immediately. 

Gigi furrowed her eyebrows, “I remember having a good time. I don’t remember specifics, but everyone was lovely. It was nice to have something to look forward to, you know? I’m normally just working…then sleeping. Thank you for making me feel like I have a life again.” 

Gigi phrased the last part like a joke, but Crystal felt the truth in it. 

“You’re always welcome. It was actually really nice to have you there.” 

Gigi smiled, but it was shy, like she was afraid to show Crystal how much that really meant to her. 

When Crystal looked out of her window, she’d stopped recognising things around her. Not that the two parts of her home were wildly different, but she’d come to recognise certain things. She knew the fat, black cat that sat near her apartment every morning, she knew every café and thrift store, she knew the parks and the people who occupied them. They were little things, but now she was somewhere different, she didn’t notice any small details. There were just large, unfamiliar buildings and dull roads. She’d been keeping an eye on the time and knew it wasn’t much further away. 

“Have you met Thomas before?” asked Crystal. 

Gigi shook her head, “I spoke with his team before your interview, Violet always makes me check everything, but I never spoke with him. His team wouldn’t let me talk to him directly because they were worried he’d say something and we could use it against him. They offered a phone call but I said I’d just wait until today.” 

“It’s not great when his own team can’t trust him to speak for himself.” 

“I mean, would you? If you said half of the things he did, I wouldn’t represent you. I don’t know why they still do, but I suppose it’s money. Must be a hard job stopping him from opening his mouth.” 

Crystal grinned, “See, you’ve got it so easy. I’m a model client.” 

“No, Jan’s a model client.” 

“But you don’t even work with her.” 

“Exactly.” 

They laughed but fell silent after that. Gigi had started to concentrate harder on the road, her phone showing her that they were nearby. Partly because she didn’t want to distract Gigi and partly because the nerves were slowly gnawing at her, Crystal left the conversation as it was. Instead, she turned her eyes on the unfamiliar surroundings and tried to pretend that it was exciting being somewhere new. 

When the car began to slow down, Crystal’s heart started to speed up. Gigi had been squinting at street signs trying to find the address she’d been given. They knew they couldn’t be far away. They stopped by one building, as modern and cold as their own and it looked like Gigi had found what she was looking for. 

“I guess that’s it, then?” asked Crystal, seeing a poster of Thomas outside of a modern building in the middle of the street. There was a car park in front of it and Gigi turned towards it. It was gated so Gigi pushed Crystal out of the car so she could input the numbers on the keypad.

Gigi had to check her emails for the sequence, which took a while, but eventually she found them and read them aloud. Once the gate clicked open, Crystal ran back to the passenger seat and climbed in before Gigi drove off. Gigi found a parking spot close to the front doors and pulled up into it. Once the car was parked, they both sat for a moment. Gigi reached to her phone and stopped the music from playing, which really made the situation feel all the more sinister. 

“Do you want to go for lunch now?” joked Crystal. 

Gigi smiled, “We’re going wherever you want after this, I promise.” 

Gigi got out of the car first, waiting at the side of it for Crystal to follow her. Once she did and the car was locked, they made their way to the front doors. 

“Do we…just walk in?” asked Crystal. 

Gigi shrugged, “You would’ve thought, if someone that hateful was known for having an office in here, they’d have someone to watch the doors so he doesn’t get egged or something.”

Crystal laughed when the heavy, glass front doors were pushed open, “Did you bring the eggs?” 

Unlike Tchotchke, there was no security at the front doors. It meant Gigi took the time to look at Crystal before they walked in. They stood in the entrance hall, silently supporting each other, until Crystal looked like she was able to face Thomas. Even if it looked like she could, Crystal really didn’t feel like she was ready. Still, she told herself that, after all the shit she’d been through that week, this would be a breeze. 

“Are you ready?” asked Gigi. Crystal swallowed and nodded. 

Gigi marched up to the desk ahead, making sure the click of her heels didn’t go unnoticed. The girl looked up, scared, at the loud noise storming towards her. Crystal hoped Gigi would go easy on the receptionist as she was imagining that it was Bri sitting in front of them. 

“Hello,” said Gigi, in a voice reserved for customers or clients, “my name is Georgina Goode and I have an appointment with Mr Thomas?” 

The girl tapped away at her computer for a minute or so before she looked up again at the two women. 

“I’ve found it, I’ll just call up and make sure he’s ready,” she said, dialling a number on her desk phone.

Crystal felt a comforting brush of the back of her hand. She resisted the urge to think about how they’d touched last night, how Crystal drank every second of it as if it were alcohol. She was grateful for the girl grabbing Gigi’s attention. 

“He’s ready for you. I’ll take you up to his office now.” 

“Thank you,” smiled Gigi. 

The building wasn’t too different from Tchotchke, except it lacked the personality. It was weird for Crystal to see such bare, model walls without the bright and beautiful portraits of models hanging on them. It seemed way too professional, which Crystal thought was weird, because Thomas’s business was really only himself. He didn’t sell anything else, so she didn’t know why he needed this much space. 

His office was, thankfully, on the ground floor. Crystal felt nervous about potentially riding up the elevator or, worse, being taken to an office on the top floor. She was glad she now didn’t have to worry about those. Now, she had more room to panic about the main thing-meeting Joey Thomas again. 

When they reached his office, the receptionist knocked on his door, waited several seconds, and then opened it. She didn’t step inside and instead held the door for both Gigi and Crystal to step through. Thomas didn’t acknowledge her presence but, then again, he seemed to also be pretending that the women also weren’t in the room. Thomas’s assistant, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room, offered them both a smile, but she didn’t speak. 

Joey Thomas was an older man who could still get away with calling himself ‘middle-aged’, with a greying beard and light brown hair, swept back to hide obvious balding patches. Once, he’d been a teenage girl’s crush, but now even women his age only liked him for his money or outrageous politics. He was never seen out of a suit, which of course had to be designer. Today his was a mix of a navy jacket and tie with a pink shirt. He was adjusting his tie when the two women had approached him and he didn’t look up to see them until it was perfectly straight on his chest. His whole image infuriated Crystal and she was sure if Gigi hadn’t been standing very close beside her, she would’ve stormed out of the room. 

“Hello, Sir, it’s nice to meet you,” said Gigi. 

“You might be Miss Goode,” he said, as if he weren’t impressed. Crystal had of course noticed the way he eyed her up and down. 

“Gigi would be fine,” she said, “and you remember Crystal?” 

He nodded slowly, “Of course, I do. Did you have an okay journey up here, today? The traffic can be so temperamental.” 

“It was the same as it usually is, but at least we got pleasant weather,” hummed Gigi. 

“You’ve got to appreciate God’s little gifts,” said Thomas, “he knows how to make everything that bit easier. And you had no trouble finding us?” 

“None at all,” said Gigi, “you’re in such a lovely part of town. Much easier to navigate than our own.” 

“Well, I did choose my home carefully. Work, especially. I think it requires a certain level of taste to know just where the prime business will be.” 

Crystal had always been in awe of Gigi, but today she really couldn’t believe her eyes. How Gigi was managing to act like Thomas was one of her dear friends amazed her. It was clear why Gigi was chosen to deal with the public; she was incredibly good at it. They spoke back and forth while Crystal seethed, imagining in her mind all the things she’d like to say to him. Instead, she left it to Gigi who was much more capable. 

“Would either of you like a drink or are we okay to get straight down to business?” 

Crystal restrained from saying anything and let Gigi do the speaking, “We’re fine, thank you Sir. Let’s discuss what we need to, so you can get on with your day.” 

“I like a woman who says it how it is,” said Thomas, almost amused by the fact Gigi had as much power as he did in the room. She was matching him well. 

He gestured for them both to join him at his desk, where he’d put two chairs down. They both took their seats opposite him. 

“You think we need to work together to fix this…incident, don’t you, Gigi? I assume you have some ideas on how you wanted to do this.” 

Gigi nodded, “I think we can turn it into an awareness stunt. We can say that you wanted to show how women should be respected, to make a discussion in the media. Crystal can back this up, and that way no one comes across as the bad person.” 

“I like your way of thinking. You want me to call myself a feminist or something? I won’t do that, so be careful with how you want to play this.” 

“I prepared something I thought you might like to say,” offered Gigi, “I thought maybe I could read it aloud and you could tell me what you think?” 

Thomas nodded, “Go ahead.” 

“I would like to discuss the recent story in the news about an interview between myself and Miss Methyd. I understand that what I said could be taken the wrong way and that’s why I wanted to say it. I think more attention needs to be drawn to issues we face in society, such as women being seen as less, especially in the media. I was hoping to open up discussions with my talk with Crystal and we’re both so glad to see it. Crystal had every right to say what she did, but she understands what I was doing,” recited Gigi. 

“Don’t you think it makes me sound a bit,” Thomas paused, “soft?” 

Crystal looked to Gigi. 

“No,” said Gigi, “it makes you approachable. You can word it your own way, of course, but that’s the storyline we were thinking. You could say something like ‘both men and women should be able to say whatever they want, but we need to show respect to whoever earns it’, that’s very on brand for you.” 

“Yeah I like that,” agreed Thomas, “So, what’s Crystal going to say?” 

Crystal looked stunned to even be spoken of. For some reason, she’d sort of just hoped that Gigi would handle everything for her and she wouldn’t have to interact with him. 

“I’m going to say that I think you’re standing up for an important cause.”

Thomas narrowed his eyes, “Don’t you need me to apologise to you or something? Want me to take back what I said?” 

“I just need you to say what Gigi said,” answered Crystal, “so we can both move on from this.” 

“Okay,” said Thomas, “so how do you want to do this? Are we going to go live? We could make an appearance on some of the big stations, they’ll want a story like this.” 

“We were thinking about getting a television slot. We can do a quick talk to the presenters and maybe you can both show that you get along. Or, at least, are fighting for the same cause,” said Gigi. 

“I won’t pretend we’re friends,” said Thomas, “no offence, but a lot of my fans and supporters like what I said about you. I’m not going to turn around and say I like people like you. They wouldn’t believe it, anyway.” 

Crystal, who was on the same side of the table as Gigi, was the only one who saw the way her hands balled into fists. She was sure her nails would pierce through the skin of her palms, but Gigi remained a very respectable, professional level of cool. 

“We’re not asking for that. Just have a conversation, or even just sit next to each other. You’ll both have time to say what you need to say.” 

Thomas thought about it for a moment, “Okay, you ladies have a deal. I’ll pass along what you said to my assistant and I’ll have them work on my script. I’ll send it back to you, Miss Goode, before we do it. Shall I arrange the appearance or would you like to?” 

“You can do it if you like,” said Gigi, “sometime next week would be ideal.” 

Thomas stood up and both Gigi and Crystal did the same. He shook both of their hands, even though neither of them wanted any contact with him. His hands were twice the size of Crystal’s and definitely strong enough to break her jaw if he felt the need to punch her. She was sure he wouldn’t, but she couldn’t rule it out. 

“I’ll see what I can do. Now, would you mind my assistant taking some photographs of Crystal and me? I think it would be good publicity for both of us and it’ll probably get us more viewers,” said Thomas. 

Gigi moved aside and pulled the chair away with her so Crystal could sit at the desk on her own with Thomas. The assistant immediately starting taking pictures of them and Crystal had to pretend like the flash wasn’t giving her a headache. 

“Maybe one of you talking or smiling?” offered the assistant. 

“Talking we can do,” said Thomas, “Crystal, I imagine this hasn’t been an ideal situation for you. Really, though, I find it interesting that they valued you over their reputation. Especially since Tchotchke has so much potential.” 

“They know a good journalist is more important than what some of the public think.” 

“Only some? I have a lot of sympathisers, they thought you were quite harsh.” 

“It doesn’t matter what your supporters think of me, considering how they aren’t mine.” 

“I think that’s enough,” said Gigi, her voice firm. 

“One more of us stood up, please,” said Thomas. 

Gigi looked at Crystal, who personally thought it would be much easier to just get it over with. They stood against a wall, awkwardly smiling at the camera, and the assistant took several before confirming that they’d gotten enough shots. 

“Are we done?” asked Crystal, trying not to sound like Thomas’s office was the last place she wanted to be. 

“I think so. I’ll be in touch when we have more information,” said Thomas. 

Gigi nodded politely, “Thank you very much for your time, Sir.” 

“Is that everything you’d like to talk about today? Obviously, I’d like to talk to you all day Miss Goode, but you must understand that I need to be in one hundred meetings today. My time is something I’ve never been able to spare, I know it’s value and that’s how I am who I am today.” 

“I understand,” said Gigi, “business doesn’t wait for pleasantries. I’ll look forward to hearing from you whenever you’re able. 

Thomas smiled at Gigi and Crystal stepped closer to her, hoping no one would notice. It sickened her to wonder what Thomas thought of Gigi. 

“Charlotte,” said Thomas, his voice sickly, “if you would show our guests out, that would be excellent.”

The brunette, his assistant, moved towards the door and held it open for both women to walk through. They thanked Thomas one more time before following Charlotte out of the room. Crystal finally felt as though she could breathe again. 

“What an absolute dickhead,” said Gigi, the minute they had been escorted out of the building. 

Crystal cackled at the comment, hoping with all her heart that somehow Thomas had been able to hear it. They walked out through the car park, avoiding anyone who was walking in the building in case they were the next person to deal with Thomas. Crystal looked around at the private parking, noticing many expensive, flashy cars and she wondered which one she should key. Maybe she should just stab a hole in one tire of each car, just to be safe. 

“I mean, how does he think it’s okay to act like that? Seriously, that whole time all I wanted to do was punch him in that stupid smug face of his.” 

“I really wished you would’ve done it,” laughed Crystal, “I think I’d give up my job just to see that happen. 

Now Gigi laughed, “Don’t dare me, because there’s still time to go back in.” 

Crystal shook her head, “No there’s not. Didn’t you hear him? We’ve taken up enough of his precious, golden time. We should be grateful.” 

“You’re right. It wasn’t anger or disgust I was feeling back there, it was definitely honour.” 

“He really couldn’t even spare us the hour, could he?” asked Crystal. 

“Even after we drove an hour? Not that I’m going to complain, I really don’t think I could’ve handled even another second with that man.” 

“I can’t believe I have to talk to him on national television,” groaned Crystal, “just the thought of sitting next to him makes my skin crawl.” 

“Don’t worry,” reassured Gigi, “he knows he has to play by our rules this time. If he doesn’t, he knows we can show him up. We gave him a lucky escape with this one, he won’t be so lucky the next time.” 

Crystal sighed, knowing Gigi was right. 

“Hey,” said Gigi, “didn’t I promise you lunch? Let’s go, we can come back for the car later. The least he can do is offer us free parking.” 

“Think you might be onto something there. I think I saw somewhere not far up the street.” 

They made their way up the street. Crystal found it fascinating, since she didn’t often come this way. Gigi had told her that she had lots of business in the area, but she’d never had much time to explore. If Crystal had been feeling more confident, she would’ve asked if Gigi wanted to go sight-seeing. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

Instead, Gigi walked on and searched for the perfect place to eat. 

“My friends in the area texted me some recommendations, there’s a sandwich place up here that does really nice pastries. You fancy it? My treat.” 

Crystal tried to argue, but Gigi wasn’t having any of it. She tried to push the thought out of her head that this was their third date. She had to remind herself that, to Gigi, it was business. Maybe, if she was lucky, it was two friends having lunch, but it would never be anything more than that. She forced a smile on her face, knowing if she was in a bad mood than Gigi would ask questions. 

The sandwich bar looked decades past its prime, like it was pulled from a time capsule and it stood apart from the modern, generic buildings around it. It wasn’t the sort of place Crystal could imagine Gigi liking, but then she considered the café she’d taken the woman to and saw that they were very similar. Maybe Gigi had remembered and decided to take her somewhere she liked. Crystal loved any place where the owner loved what they did and she imagined Gigi had never really given it a second thought. 

They opened the door and the bell above them rang out, though no one looked up to greet them. There was a young man on the till, most likely a student, who only glanced at them once Crystal had uttered a hello. 

“What can I get you?” he asked, drawing in a breath as if just speaking was exhausting. 

“I’ll have a latte, please and whatever you want,” said Gigi, addressing the last part to Crystal. 

“I’ll have the same, but iced,” said Crystal. 

The barista raised his eyebrow, “So an iced latte, then?” 

Crystal flushed and nodded while Gigi stifled laughter. The barista said he’d bring them over while he passed over a couple of menus to them. Crystal mumbled a thank you before she followed Gigi to a booth in the corner. 

“What was wrong with what I said?” she asked. 

“Nothing,” reassured Gigi, “but it was a little bit weird.” 

“Well, I’ve had a stressful day alright?” 

“You feeling okay after what happened? I know he was trying to rile you up,” said Gigi. 

Crystal shrugged, “He’s just upset that he doesn’t bother me.” 

“That’s good. He was bothering me, I thought I was going to have to slap him,” grumbled Gigi.

“I figured if I slapped every man who made me angry, I wouldn’t have any hands left to hit with.” 

“I disagree, I think that’s a missed opportunity.” 

Crystal laughed, “I have no idea why you’re the one with job security.” 

A few minutes later, the barista came over with their drinks in his hands, “Did you want anything to eat?” 

“Two croissants, thanks,” said Gigi. 

He left and Crystal definitely caught the roll of his eyes when he’d heard that he now had to go and prepare pastries for them. 

Crystal watched as Gigi stirred a sweetener into her coffee, testing it to see if it was to her taste. When it was, she abandoned it in front of her to talk to Crystal. 

“Why are you drinking hot coffee?” asked Crystal.

“It cools you down,” shrugged Gigi. 

“No, that’s tea.” 

“Why wouldn’t it be coffee as well?” 

“I don’t know, I’ve just never heard of it before.” 

“Crystal, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m sure there’s plenty of other stuff you’ve been wrong about before.” 

Crystal laughed, growing warmer under the teasing, and she must’ve lingered on Gigi for just a moment too long, because the smirk left her mouth. 

Gigi shuffled forward on her chair. Her hands collapsed around the mug of coffee. They stayed there for a moment and Crystal wondered why she didn’t care that her hands were going to burn. She felt the urge to move them for Gigi. Gigi, however, didn’t move for a while. She didn’t take a sip from the mug. Crystal stirred her own drink, wondering if she should rack her brain for a story to tell, when Gigi finally brought the mug to her lips. When she put the coffee down, she took a breath. 

“I think we need to talk about last night.”


	12. Law And Order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't be happier to say hello again!! This has been absolute torture to finish (in the best way possible). I've been having to do about 100 words every few days and I can't believe it's finally done. I was worried about the chapter not working because it's taken me such a long time, but I'm quite proud of it. I hope you enjoy it too.
> 
> I really hope you don't think too much is going on in this chapter, it's a pretty long one! I thought you all deserved that. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think, because your comments and messages over the past few days/weeks have been the only thing keeping me going.

The coffee on her tongue turned sour and the ice seemed to burn impossibly cold in the pit of her stomach. On its journey, it managed to freeze Crystal’s throat and she tried to hold back the cough that crept up in an attempt to clear her dry throat. She failed to conceal it and coughed obnoxiously. Gigi looked nervous now, like her carefully chosen words could possibly end up choking Crystal to death. Once she recovered, she dared to take another sip just to soothe the stinging she felt. 

“Uh, I’m sorry if I sprung that on you,” said Gigi, stiffening in her chair and keeping up a strangely proper posture. 

“It just went down the wrong way, it wasn’t what you said,” lied Crystal, “but…I didn’t think you remembered anything?” 

“Well, I did.” 

“Why did you say you didn’t? You could’ve said something earlier,” argued Crystal, who felt as though they’d missed out on a very important conversation. 

“You had other things to worry about earlier. Besides, it’s never an easy thing to say. If you’d just jumped in my car and I sprang it on you, today would’ve been much more awkward.” 

“Awkward?” 

“Because you know it’s going to be a hard conversation,” explained Gigi. 

“How?”

“It shouldn’t have happened. I was an idiot, I know that. I’m really hoping you can forget I did it, because I don’t want to compromise the job we’re doing here.” 

“You regret it, then?” 

“As much as I don’t regret it, it doesn’t make it a good idea.” 

Even without the iced coffee, Crystal felt the plummeting chill in her body. She tumbled down the rabbit hole, leaving her with just a sinking stomach and the feeling of being left in the dark. Gigi didn’t feel the same way. 

“You don’t think so?”

“Imagine there was paparazzi, or some idiot with a camera and they managed to catch a glimpse of what happened. It would be plastered in the tabloids. Your career would be in ruins because we all know how the Chief feels about open sexuality in the industry. They would say I let my feelings get in the way of my work so, even if I kept my job, my reputation would be shattered. With everything we’re about to expose, do you really want to risk our integrity? This goes way past just you and me.” 

“You’re saying we have to sacrifice everything for our careers?” 

“It’s not just about a silly job now, it’s about taking down a man who has had too much power for way too long.” 

When Crystal cast her eyes down and fell more silent than Gigi had never seen before, the latter spoke up again, “What are you thinking about?” 

Crystal swallowed the lump in her throat, “You called it a ‘silly job’.” 

“So?” 

“I know how hard you’ve worked to get here. And I know how important your career is to you. If you’re calling it a silly job, it means you’re serious.” 

“You understand, then?” asked Gigi. 

“We don’t want to be worrying about things we don’t need to be worried about,” nodded Crystal. 

She didn’t want to say she understood, because even though she did, it was sort of like admitting defeat. Crystal felt obligated to provide even a sliver of deluded hope. If her life worked out like she planned, the Chief would be fired and she could be free to feel however she wanted, both at home and at work. 

“So, that’s that, then?” asked Crystal. 

“I suppose so.” 

“Right. Okay, that’s fine.” 

“Crystal, I really am sorry.” 

“I get it.” 

They sipped their drinks in silence, since the need to comfort Crystal with humour and hatred for Thomas had disappeared. Gigi knew now Crystal needed a different kind of comfort. 

“Shall we go?” Gigi asked eventually. 

They stood up together, standing six feet apart. Crystal threw a polite smile to the waiter, who barely offered her one back. 

“Thank you for the impeccable service,” said Gigi as they walked out the door. Crystal would’ve found the dig hilarious if she’d been in any mood to laugh. 

Not another word was spoken during the walk to the car. There was a fight in the street and a ridiculously cute puppy beside them on the pavement, but neither thing drew so much as a conversation from either of them. Crystal had wanted to say something, of course, but she couldn’t shake the heaviness in her chest for long enough to say two words. It was a similar feeling to thinking you did really well on an exam, only for it to come back as a fail. She kept her head low to the ground, hoping none of this would show externally. 

Crystal had never been more tempted to book an Uber in her whole life. It wasn’t like Gigi was in a bad mood with her, but still she knew the way home was going to be a journey to dread. She could tell as soon as she saw the white knuckles of Gigi’s hand and how she clung onto the steering wheel like it a lifeline. While Gigi sat up impossible straight in her seat, Crystal had opened the passenger door and slumped down into the seat- drained and defeated. 

Gigi didn’t question her, presumably because she assumed the journalist was just tired. Crystal stole a glance at Gigi. The woman was focusing on getting out of her parking space, probably not one thought to their dwindling relationship in her head. Unlike Crystal’s. 

They drove for what felt like ages. Crystal dozed off for the majority of it, yet somehow the drive home still felt longer than the drive there. She could feel the ache in her neck from how she’d been resting against the window. When she shifted, pulling her knees up onto the seat, Gigi jumped. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were awake.” 

Crystal yawned, “I wasn’t even sleeping.” 

“Oh, the snoring was on the radio then, was it?” 

Crystal slapped Gigi, gently, so she didn’t get them both into an accident. The tension had been broken for the first time since the café. 

The music played quietly in the background. Crystal could barely make out what song was playing over the sounds of the car and the traffic. She supposed the music was more of a comfort thing to Gigi. Maybe it was comforting her right now, but Crystal felt the opposite. Her nerves were getting the better of her and she didn’t want to leave it so awkwardly with Gigi. She waited until the stern expression on Gigi’s face softened and, when her shoulders relaxed too, she dared to speak. 

“No singing this time?” asked Crystal. 

“Nope, the risk of you playing One Direction is too high.” 

“We could play a game?” suggested Crystal. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realise I was babysitting.” 

“Don’t be like that, you know you like a little I-spy.” 

“Okay, okay, we can play a game…but it better not be I-spy.” 

“Well, we can’t exactly play monopoly, can we?” huffed Crystal. 

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” said Gigi. 

Crystal did, “Fine. What about truth or dare?” 

“Congratulations,” Gigi dead-panned, “you hit puberty and now you’re a teenage girl at her first sleepover.”

“I know you want to play it.” 

“You start, then.”

Crystal grinned. 

“Okay. Truth or dare?” 

Gigi contemplated for a while, “Truth.” 

“You have to wear either socks and sandals or Juicy Couture pants with every outfit…which one are you picking?” 

“It’s got to be socks and sandals…I guess they’re easier to hide. I know your answer, you’d wear both of them unironically anyway.” 

Crystal laughed, “Would not! I’m picking truth, by the way.” 

“If you could have any job in Tchotchke, what would it be?” asked Gigi. 

“The feminist in me wants to say Chief but, honestly, I want to be a model. I want to be so beautiful that people pay me to wear their clothes. Imagine, just walking and being photographed for how you look but in a good way. Not in a ‘you look like a clown and the local teenagers want to post it in their group chats’ kind of way.” 

“You could be a model, if you wanted to.” 

“Yeah, right.” 

“No, I’m serious.”

“Maybe for some quirky photographer whose studio is almost definitely a front for drugs,” shrugged Crystal. 

Gigi smiled and shook her head, “I’ll show you, one day. We’ll have you on the front cover.” 

“No, no, Miss Goode, you’re the one with the face for the magazines.” 

“Crystal, can you pick dare?” 

“It’s your turn, though.” 

“Okay, fine, I’ll choose truth.” 

“Lame,” laughed Crystal, “but fine. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?” 

“I’d like to say leopard or something, but probably a cat,” sighed Gigi. 

Crystal nodded, “Definitely a cat. One of those stuck-up house cats whose owners paid thousands of dollars for. Anyway, as promised, I choose dare.” 

“I dare you to run an errand with me.” 

Gigi took a turn Crystal didn’t expect and the woman was shifted in her seat, nearly falling into the car door. Her face must’ve shown her confusion because Gigi peered over to her. 

“We just need to go back to Tchotchke before I drop you home, we have an appointment,” explained Gigi. 

“Huh, Tchotchke’s open on weekends?” 

“Sort of. A lot of my team are students, or single parents, or have other obligations so they like to take their days off in the week. Most of them come in on weekends. Most supervisors and editors are here too. It’s peaceful.”

“It’s like a whole new world I didn’t know about,” said Crystal. 

“You journalists think the world revolves around you,” retorted Gigi, with a teasing sparkle in her eye. 

“So, what kind of appointment?” 

“I thought it would be good for you to meet with the lawyer I’ve been talking to. Especially if we plan on speaking up soon. We need to get all the legal stuff out of the way.”

Crystal felt nervous, “Will it be like an interrogation?” 

“No, I promise,” Gigi said softly, “he’s on our side and he wants to help. But you don’t even have to talk to him about anything now if you don’t want to. Just get a feel for him, see if you want to trust him. I think you’ll really like him.” 

Crystal nodded in hopeful agreement and watched Gigi take them the now familiar route back to their workplace. 

She found it really weird to see Tchotchke so empty. Normally there’d be cars parked everywhere, people standing outside and employees running around helplessly trying to impress their superiors. Now, it was eerily quiet. There were still a few cars outside, but no one to talk to. Crystal quite liked it. 

“Shall we?” 

“Let’s go.” 

Gigi grabbed Crystal by the arm, gently but firm, and led her through security. When someone like Gigi walked, with the authority of someone who owns the building, Crystal found that no one stopped to speak to her. Crystal, who was just the opposite, was almost always questioned. Security would ask about her day, passing colleagues would pester her about tasks they didn’t want to do and supervisors from every department would give her something to do, even if she was busy already. She figured she had more to learn from Gigi than just public relations, but really, she knew that already. 

They made it to Public Relations without incident, with just a pause for Gigi to greet her team as they passed them. 

“How long did you say we’ve got?” asked Crystal, out of breath. 

“Any minute now,” sighed Gigi, looking at the clock above her head. 

Crystal collapsed into a chair, “I don’t know how you do this every day. I feel like I haven’t sat down in a week.”

Gigi laughed, “We’ve been sat in a car for like an hour.” 

“Still,” pouted Crystal, “it’s not exactly the same as sitting in a desk chair all day, is it?” 

“You’ll get used to it.” 

“Oh, you’re going to make me your new assistant, are you? You’ve been paying me in lunches and coffee and now I have to follow you around like a puppy.” 

“You think I paid you in coffee and food? I expect you to pay me back for those.” 

Crystal’s face dropped and Gigi laughed loudly, “I’m obviously joking. For a journalist, you’re incredibly gullible.” 

Before Crystal had time to retort, which to her embarrassment would be no grander than ‘shut up’, they heard footsteps outside, and both turned to see who was approaching. The door was open, so no one knocked, but a voice caught their attention. 

“Gigi,” came a quiet voice from the doorway, “your appointment is here. Shall I send him in?” 

“Sure, thank you.” 

When the voice disappeared, Gigi turned to Crystal, “You know, I hate when it’s Brianna’s day off. She just sends the clients in. She doesn’t do her job right, but it sure saves me time.” 

Several seconds later, a man appeared at the door. He was much taller than both women in the room, with a well-groomed beard and kind eyes. He lacked hair on his head; but it didn’t seem to bother his confidence. Besides, the suit made up for it. There was a certain look about him; and it didn’t take Crystal long to figure out who he was. 

“Crystal, this is Mr Brown. He’s a friend of our company lawyer, who obviously we couldn’t work with. I’ve been assured he’s even better.” 

The lawyer smiled, “Our friend just likes to sell himself short. But I do promise to be as good as him.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr Brown.”

“Please, call me Mark,” said the lawyer. 

“Thank you for coming,” said Gigi. 

“Of course,” he turned to Crystal, “Miss Goode sent me an overview of the situation. Ideally, I’d get you to sit down with me and tell me the story yourself. Do you feel comfortable doing that?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Perfect, if you’d like to take a seat opposite me then we can get started.”

Crystal cast one look to Gigi before doing as she was told and taking the seat that the lawyer was gesturing to. 

“Just so you know, we have a microphone set up and you will be recorded. It won’t be used for evidence, because you’ll need to go to a police station for that, but it will help me with your case.” 

“That’s fine.” 

“Are you ready, Miss Methyd?” 

Crystal nodded, but then remembered that she wasn’t being filmed, so let out a ‘yes’ afterwards. 

“Crystal, please.” 

“Okay, sure. Now, before we start, we need to go over a few things. First of all, I’m here to defend and support you, so please be completely honest. I won’t judge anything. Secondly, if you need a break, just say and we can stop. Lastly, if you would like Miss Goode to stay, you’ll need to say so verbally. Or, vice versa, so she can leave.” 

Crystal looked up at Gigi. She was standing, leaning against the wall, with her arms folded across her chest. Her face could’ve been carved out of stone and it was only a blink that convinced Crystal it wasn’t. The cold expression only wavered when Gigi noticed that Crystal was staring at her. She offered the journalist a nervous, watery smile. 

“I would like Miss Goode to stay in the room,” Crystal said. 

“Okay, then let’s start. If you could walk me through the events you would like to prosecute for, please.” 

“Sure. I was told I needed to go and see RuPaul Charles, our Editor in Chief, for a meeting. It didn’t surprise me because I’d been in trouble earlier for bias. As expected, he asked me questions about what happened and told me he wanted to keep me here. He…kept coming closer to me and kept touching me…I thought he was trying to comfort me for a while. But then he started talking about how important loyalty is to him. He told me he wanted me to show him I was loyal. He…put his hand on my leg and my thigh.” 

Crystal hadn’t realised how little she’d been breathing. Once she’d finished her speech, her breath sounded like she’d been on a run and her lungs burned. She worried that maybe she’d spoken too fast. 

“Thank you for sharing that. So, what you’ve described, although it isn’t explicit, is definitely sexual harassment. I think your next steps are to write everything down for us in as much detail as you can. Write down anything else you can think of, for example if he’s ever made a comment to you before. Next we can build a case. Since Charles hasn’t actually fired you yet, we can’t use that. So, you’ll need to make a formal complaint to your HR team. The court won’t do anything without one. You have to remember, in trials like these, the victim is on trial just as much as the attacker.”

“Great,” mumbled Crystal. 

“As long as you stay professional and calm, you’ll be fine. I’m going to ask you to start with your formal complaint. Call me when that’d done, keep your notes and diaries for as long as possible and I’ll appeal for a case. It could take weeks, so you have time to gather everything.” 

“What do we do publicly?” asked Gigi. 

“It’s really up to you. You have the best knowledge on the public, Miss Goode. But I will say; even if you don’t make a public announcement on what’s been going on, someone will leak the case. It will be public before it ever goes to court. If you want to keep it minimal for now, you really don’t have to do anything. Everyone will find out.” 

“Do you think that’s the best idea?” asked Gigi. 

The lawyer nodded, “I think so. If you decided to go to the press first, it could be used against you in court. They could say that you just want attention, or it’s a publicity stunt, or anything like that. In my experience, it’s best to keep it low-key for now. Definitely go the press but wait until court.” 

“Do you think we stand much chance?” asked Crystal. 

The lawyer paused, “America was built on the idea that powerful men should be allowed to act how they please. What we’re doing is attacking the foundations. It’s never an easy fight, but I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the foundations crumble many times.”

Crystal stayed quiet, so Gigi took over, “Thank you, Mark. I’ll be in touch when we’re ready for you to make the appeal.” 

Taking that as his hint to leave, Mark stood up, gathered his belongings, and shook both the hands of the women in front of him. 

“I know the way out. I’ll look forward to seeing you both soon,” said the lawyer.

“I do have another question, not really relevant,” said Crystal, “are there any laws on seeing someone at work?” 

“Like…?”

“Romantically, sexually, blah blah.” 

Crystal thoroughly enjoyed the fierce blush growing on Gigi’s face and the way she sat with her head in her hands in an attempt to hide it. 

The lawyer cleared his throat, “Uh, there’s no legal restrictions on relationships at work, but from a business perspective, employers usually discourage it. However, there’s not much employers can do if it’s kept secret. Is there a reason you’re asking? If it might affect the case, I should know about it.” 

Crystal shook her head, “No, it has nothing to do with the case, I promise.” 

The lawyer nodded, though clearly not completely convinced, accepted her explanation and left her alone. 

“That was cute,” commented Gigi once Mark had gone. Crystal hadn’t really moved, she just stared at the door Mark had disappeared through. 

“Just wanted to change the subject,” shrugged Crystal. 

“Yeah, sure you did.” 

Crystal let out a small laugh, but considering how funny she’d found it, even Gigi had expected her to react a little more. 

“Are you okay?” asked Gigi. 

That wasn’t a question she thought she was qualified to answer. If she felt as numb as she did, how could she know? The feeling of hope she’d promised herself wasn’t there. She didn’t exactly feel defeated, either, just sort of nothing. Well, not completely, because she did feel guilty about the nothingness. Her thumb fiddling with the knuckles of her hands, Crystal looked up at Gigi. 

“Do you ever get the feeling that this is just…pointless?” 

Gigi frowned, “Is this because of what Mark said? Don’t worry, you heard him, these things are hard but they’re not impossible.”

“I know but…I’m just worried this is going to be more pain than it’s worth.” 

Gigi’s hand fell on Crystal’s shoulder, “You don’t mean that. I know you too well to think that’s what you really think. You know you’re doing this for every woman who didn’t have the strength to. You’re doing it for your boss who questions her career every single day.” 

“But why me? Why do I have to do it?” 

“Because you have no idea how strong you are.” 

Crystal nodded, not like she believed it, but like she knew it was what she needed to hear. When she pulled herself from the chair, her legs were a lot weaker than they’d been when she sat down. She tapped her foot to get rid of the shaking. 

“I’m going to go and get started on my email to HR. I’ll send it to you once it’s done, if you like, so you can go over it?” said Crystal.

“You could always do it with me, if you wanted? We could go sit in a coffee shop?” offered Gigi. 

Crystal did consider it. But she was thinking about both of them sharing a tiny metal table, both leaning too close over the laptop they were both typing on. She pictured their hands brushing together when they reach for the same key and their legs barely touching but being pushed together by the lack of space under the table. Crystal swallowed hard. Was she really so useless that she couldn’t even have coffee with Gigi anymore? Did Gigi think that was as pathetic as Crystal did?

“I think this is something I want to do on my own. I’ll see you when I’m finished with it though, okay?” 

Gigi looked disappointed, “Yeah, of course. I’ll be here.” 

“Thank you for today,” Crystal said quietly. 

“I’m going to be here for you,” promised Gigi. 

“I know.”

“So, we’re not doing some grand reveal on live television anymore?” asked Crystal, not enjoying the tension in the room. 

Gigi frowned, “I guess not. Shame, I thought you’d like the dramatics. I do think you should have a video or something prepared, still. Maybe one you can post on your socials once the news has come out. Only say what you’re allowed to, legally, but I think we need to cover your back.” 

“I’ll think about a statement.” 

“Thanks,” said Gigi. She turned her attention to her laptop, and Crystal figured that was her queue to leave. 

“Oh, Crystal,” said Gigi, “it looks like some people from your department signed in today. I think they’re working on something for Shea’s issue, she mentioned that they’d be in at some point. Just in case you wanted to avoid them.” 

“It’s fine, thanks though. It’d be nice to see them before I go.” 

“So, you didn’t want space, you just wanted space from me,” said Gigi. 

It was quiet enough that Crystal was able to pretend like she hadn’t heard it. Facing away from Gigi so the woman wouldn’t see her panic, she gathered her belongings and headed out of the door. 

Part of her thought that maybe Gigi would stop her, or at least say goodbye, but she didn’t. Crystal knew that was her own fault, Gigi was just respecting her, but she hadn’t wanted space at all. She just wanted what she couldn’t have. 

Crystal could’ve really used Bri’s face at the reception desk to cheer her up. She was so grateful that Bri had agreed to come with her and that Violet had authorised it. The desk was empty now, since the building wasn’t busy enough to warrant anyone sitting there. A few people did pass her through the corridors and up the stairs, but they hadn’t stopped to talk to her. She did receive the occasional smile. Crystal wished she could work the weekends all the time. It was much more peaceful. 

The peace was shattered once she reached her own department. The first sound that bombarded her eyes was Willam’s distinctive laughter. It was followed by a snort, as it often was, and a couple of other voices joined in. 

When Crystal opened the door, she was right in suspecting that Willam had been on the other side. He was there with Jan and Jackie, who were stood quite far away from him. Their laptops were all out on their desks and words were scribbled on the board in the corner of the room. Crystal spotted Shea’s name in the very un-neat writing. 

The three journalists perked up when the door had opened, clearly wondering who else would be there on a Saturday, but each of them relaxed when they spotted Crystal. Jan and Jackie looked over-the-moon, whilst Willam went straight back to scrolling on his phone. 

“Oh, hi Crystal! I didn’t think we’d see you today!” said Jan. 

“What are you up to?” asked Jackie. 

“Oh, I just need to get a few things,” said Crystal, “I won’t be long. You guys carry on.” 

“Don’t worry, we’ve finished now,” reassured Jan. 

Crystal walked towards her desk. She opened up the bag she was carrying and started to move things into it. Her desk was often cluttered with unimportant documents, doodles, gel pens and books that she’d never read. Even now, she shoved them in her bag like she thought she’d ever use them again. Even the pieces of paper that were so crumpled they were unreadable ended up in her bag. She heard Jan, Willam and Jackie whispering behind her and she tried to drown them out with the clattering of objects in her workspace. 

The three of them watched silently as Crystal began emptying her desk. None of them wanted to say anything, not even Willam. Jan felt encouraged when Crystal looked up and smiled at her. 

“Did you get…f-ed?” asked Jan, as softly and gently as possible, not wanting to say the word out loud in case it upset Crystal. 

Willam’s face twisted in confusion, “fucked?” 

“F-ed, Jan, really?” said Jackie. 

“I panicked,” cried Jan. 

“No, I didn’t get fired,” Crystal put extra emphasis on the word, “but I’m going to work on a project with the models. We thought it would be a good idea before the next issue. Violet wants more pieces on the models themselves, she thinks it will make the magazine more personal.”

It was basically a lie, but it was still what Crystal intended to do with her time away, so she figured she’d get away with it. 

“That’s exciting!” clapped Jan. 

“Why do you always get to hang out with the models,” huffed Willam. 

“What are you guys up to, anyway?” asked Crystal. 

“Shea wanted our help with covering the gala and model announcements, so we’ve been trying to organise it. She told us it could wait until Monday, but she was so nice we thought we’d do it for her now,” said Jan. 

“Well, I agreed because I want Monday off work. My hangovers take two non-working days,” shrugged Willam. 

“We got it done quickly,” added Jackie, “I think we make a pretty good team.” 

“Even me?” Willam asked sarcastically. 

“I know you’re mocking me, but I really think we did some good work together today.” 

With no hesitation, Willam took the pen from Jackie’s hand and dropped it to the floor. Jackie moved to pick it up, but before she had a chance, Willam crushed it underneath his shoe. It splintered and plastic, ink and springs decorated the floor like a stationary murder scene. 

“Why did you do that?” cried Jackie, cradling the pieces as if they were her grandmother’s china. 

Jan leapt out of her seat and sat down on the floor beside her. She gently moved Jackie’s hand away and swept up the fragments in her arms and dropping them into the bin beside her desk. 

“I just thought we were getting too friendly,” shrugged Willam. 

“I think it’s definitely time to call it a day,” huffed Jackie, “I take back what I said.”

“I’ll drop everything off to Violet’s desk before I go, she’ll make sure it gets to Shea,” offered Jan. 

“Thank you,” Jackie said quietly. 

Jan beamed, “Anytime. I’ll see you later, Jack. Bye Willam, bye Crys.” 

“Why don’t I get a nickname, you horrendous ball of sunshine,” Willam called after her, but she was already speed-walking out of the department with a comical pile of papers in her arms. 

With false teary eyes, Willam shrugged and left. He didn’t say goodbye, but he paused in the doorway to give them a half-hearted wave.

Crystal, who now had most of her things, gave her desk one last look. She knew she’d be coming back to it, but she had no idea how long she’d be away for. Maybe she’d end up being fired and she’d never come back. She tried not to think about that. Just before she walked away, she felt a gentle hand grab at her arm. 

“Wait, Crystal,” said the voice behind her. 

Crystal was pretty surprised, considering how in her daydream she’d been sure that she was the only one in the room. She spun around to face the source of noise and found Jackie standing, her free hand toying nervously with the hem of her skirt. 

“Oh, hi Jacks.” 

“I was actually hoping I could grab a quick word with you. It’s quite lucky I saw you today, actually, because I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” 

Crystal laughed, “You’re making me nervous but yeah, of course, whatever you need.” 

Jackie glanced over her shoulder, checking to see that the door was fully closed. Crystal had spent so much time with anxiety it might as well be her best friend, so she recognised all the signs of it on Jackie’s face. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Actually, I sort of really need some advice. I’m not that close with anyone else in the room, and I know I’d just get made fun of or something.” 

Crystal frowned, “Wouldn’t Jan listen to you?” 

“Actually,” Jackie said with a blush, “this isn’t actually something I can tell Jan. Actually, it’s about Jan. Wow, I’ve said that so much I’m not even sure it’s a real word anymore.” 

“Is everything okay with you two?” 

“Actually-here I go again-it’s more than okay. It’s good. But that’s the problem. Crystal, I really like her. But I don’t want to ruin anything. She’s like my best friend too. Plus, we work together. And I don’t want her to contact HR or anything. I-I just don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.” 

Crystal grinned, “Oh, Jackie! You won’t make her uncomfortable, I just know it. You two would be really good together.”

“You don’t think the age difference is a problem?” 

“Come on, you’re both adults! I think this could be great for both of you. Are you going to talk to her?”   
Again, Jackie looked nervous, “I wanted to see if she wanted to come with me to Shea’s gala. But I figured I should at least ask her out for coffee first. I wanted to do it today, but I got too scared.” 

“I have a weird feeling Jan is waiting for you in the car park. If I were you, I’d ask her out. We have a day off tomorrow- use it.”

“Thank you, Crystal. If you ever need a wing woman, I’ll be there.” 

Jackie practically bounced away, moving incredibly fast in case there was a chance she’d miss Jan. Crystal knew Jan would be waiting, though, because Jan always did. She always waited for Jackie to walk with her and she almost always bought her a coffee from her mom’s place. Something told Crystal that Jackie had nothing to worry about.   
Crystal decided she’d wait around in their department for a while, giving the two women the space that they’d need. She found herself flicking through her phone, glancing over ignored emails and long-since forgotten texts to reply to. Her eyes were glazed but they did manage to find the one thing Crystal had wanted to find. 

The name ‘Georgina Goode’ was in her recent call list, so it was even easier to dial her number. Maybe that wasn’t a good thing but to Crystal, it was the one sign she needed.   
Pacing around the room, Crystal held the phone slightly away from her ear, as if she was too scared for it to stop ringing. Her stomach clenched when it finally did, and she took a deep breath before she heard Gigi’s voice on the other side. 

“Do you want to go to Shea’s gala with me?” blurted out Crystal, impossibly fast. She wasn’t even sure if Gigi had heard. 

“Huh? Crystal?” 

“Do you?” 

There was a pause on Gigi’s end, “What, like a date? Or…friends?” 

“Listen, I know what you said, and I appreciate it, but we can keep it low-key. No one needs to know. It can just be one date. Besides, we’ve got ages until Shea sorts it out. Maybe I’ll be out of deep shit by then.” 

“What are you doing? And where did this come from?” asked Gigi. 

“I’m just following my own advice,” said Crystal. 

Gigi sighed, “Okay, Crystal, I’ll go to the gala with you.” 

“Great,” said Crystal, “I’ll see you then!” 

“You’ll probably see me Monday first. Since I’ll be the one dropping you off at Shea’s.” 

“You’re right, you’re right,” and in a panic Crystal hung up the phone. 

She looked around to see if anyone was nearby or waiting at the door for her to notice them. When she found that, this time, she was completely alone, she leaned her head back against the wall and grinned.


	13. Angel Agencies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I think 2 months between updates is slightly embarrassing, but I hope you enjoy anyway! I know it's hard to enjoy a story when the parts come so far apart but if you do still read or encourage me to write, it honestly means the world to me!

Bri, with Monet in tow, dragged her suitcase to Crystal’s house late on Sunday night. They’d stayed up too late watching movies and talking, resulting in all of them being horribly grumpy when they woke up on the Monday. Crystal had woken them up early so that they had time to prepare, ordering them each a coffee for motivation. Monet had tried to say that Crystal lived stupidly close and, as much as he enjoyed their company, they really didn’t need to sleepover. However, Crystal knew Bri would never get up on time on her own and she really needed support to get her out of bed. Besides, she’d missed them both. 

Crystal was frantically doing her makeup on the floor. She’d decided the night before that she needed to do something extravagant to distract from the car-wreck of her life at the moment, but now she was starting to regret her decision. There was glitter all over her nice cream floor and she didn’t have time to scrub it away, leaving it to sink into carpet. Monet was going through Crystal’s wardrobe, looking for something to wear after deciding he hated the outfit he’d brought round. He found a white skirt with a pink collar and decided it would do. Bri, on the other hand, was in absolutely no rush. She’d put on some makeup, threw a jumper over flared jeans, and went to sip her coffee. 

“Ryanair wasn’t too pleased that I would basically be vacationing with a bunch of models, but I am just thrilled for some time off,” said Bri after putting down the cup and collapsing onto Crystal’s bed. 

“Why would Ryanair care what you do?” asked Crystal, thoroughly confused. 

“That’s one of her nickname for Juju. It’s disgustingly adorable,” explained Monet. 

Bri laughed, “I just call her all the different airlines I can think of because I find it hilarious.”

“I wish you could come too,” pouted Crystal as she looked to Monet, “I don’t think I can cope with her alone.”

“Someone’s got to keep an eye on the place. While you’re gone, I’m going to see if your temps are hot. I need a date to Shea’s gala or I’m going to look so stupid. Want me to keep an eye out for you too, Crystal, or will you end up bringing a model?” 

Crystal winced, “Actually, I sort of have a date.” 

Bri nearly fell off the bed, “What? Who? When did this happen?” 

“Breathe, Bri. Seriously though, girl, why the hell didn’t you say something sooner?” 

“It only just happened. I was talking to Jackie and I was telling her to just go for it and I thought…you know what? Why can’t I follow my own advice? Like, I should be happy too! So, I called her on the phone and just…asked her.” 

“Very moving story, but it’s missing one key detail,” said Monet. 

Crystal didn’t exactly want to tell them. That wasn’t entirely true, she was actually bursting to tell them, but she knew it would be a mistake. Some part of her anxious brain told her that if she started telling everyone, she’d lose her chance with Gigi, who preferred that everything stayed very private. Besides, Gigi had already told Crystal not to get her hopes up. Sure, they had a date, but it probably wouldn’t become anything more. It didn’t matter too much to Crystal, though, because the thought of their date made her heart lurch every-time she thought about it. She knew this wasn’t something she could keep from her best friends.

“Gigi.” 

“Oh, I didn’t know you knew two Gigi’s? That’s going to be confusing,” said Bri. 

“I don’t think that’s what she meant Briana.” 

The sharp intake of breath from Bri was almost comical. With the air of a pantomime actress, Bri clutched at Monet’s arm and clawed at Crystal with her other one. Her mouth still hung open in disbelief when she finally withdrew her grip and leaned back onto the bed. 

“You’re going to kill me Crystal,” cried Bri, “we’ve been gossiping all night and all morning…you didn’t think to lead with the fact you’re going on a date with Gigi Goode?” 

“Look,” Crystal said with her hands in the air, “she doesn’t want it to be anything serious. She told me to leave her alone, basically. So, this probably won’t even go anywhere. Don’t get too excited.” 

“Too late,” Monet joined in, “I’m already having an aneurysm.” 

“I know you can’t actually have children, but they would be the most perfect little creatures ever. Like, I wouldn’t even mind babysitting them just to, you know, look at their faces,” said Bri. 

Crystal blushed, “We’re not having hypothetical kids! She barely agreed to go to Shea’s gala with me. She’s probably only doing it as a publicity stunt, anyway.” 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” scolded Monet.

“No, I’m serious. She probably knows that being seen with her will make me look more respectable. Besides, she knows how to talk to the public. It would be good for me to be with her, at least then I’ll seem likable by association.” 

“Crys, that’s bullshit! Your career is based on people liking you. Your stupid brain is just trying to come up with excuses because you don’t want to admit it’s a real date with real feelings,” said Bri. 

“Right, right, I don’t need you two giving me any more hope,” waved Crystal, “let’s just forget about it okay?” 

“How are we meant to forget about this? Oh my god, is one of you going to wear a suit and the other one a matching dress? And someone will bring someone flowers?” Bri pouted, “It’s confusing when it’s gay.” 

“It’s not prom,” scolded Monet, “it’s a date with two adult children who want to pretend they don’t think about doing it on Gigi’s desk every-time they make eye contact.” 

Bri and Monet erupted into childish giggles, falling back onto Crystal’s bed as they fought for breath. Crystal kept her face as straight as possible, trying to give the impression that she thought her two friends were complete idiots. In reality, she was absolutely loving it. 

“Gigi will be here in ten. We might just make it on time, but you’re definitely going to be late Monet,” said Crystal. 

“You mean your girlfriend won’t give me a lift too?” asked Monet. 

Crystal rolled her eyes, “And just for that, I’m not buying you an Uber either.” 

Monet set off shortly after, grumpily buying himself an Uber, leaving Crystal to pace around and wait for Bri to rush around the bedroom in a panic. Bri had just about put her shoes on when Gigi rang Crystal to say she was just around the corner. 

“Bri,” said Crystal, stopping the woman in her tracks before they stepped outside, “I’m begging you not to make it weird.” 

“Why would I do that?” 

“Because I know you, and I know you would find it completely hilarious.” 

“Okay yeah, that’s true.” 

Crystal moved to open the front door, prompted by a few texts from Gigi, but Bri reached out to grab her arm.

“We’re going to be late, Bri.” 

‘I know, I just want to ask you something. It has to be now, since you’ll be frolicking with Gigi soon.” 

“What’s up?” 

“I just wanted to ask you why you decided to leave Tchotchke. Before… you would’ve done anything to confront the Chief yourself. What changed? And by that, I mean, Gigi, right?” asked Bri. 

“I’m not running away from her,” scoffed Crystal, “I asked her on a date, didn’t I? Besides, she’s literally outside.” 

Bri didn’t look convinced, “Something’s changed. And you better tell me what it is. You have to make up for keeping that secret all day.” 

Crystal shrugged, “Maybe I’m scared I’ll keep falling for her until it’s too late and I have to look at her every day knowing she’s unattainable and no one I like will ever be capable of liking me back. Or maybe I’m tired and want a break from the office. Who cares, Bri.” 

“Okay,” Bri said softly, though she left the conversation alone after that. 

The conversation was annoying Crystal more than she wanted to admit. She hated the thought that everyone now expected her and Gigi to be some great love story when she was sure the woman didn’t even want to be with her. It made her grieve for the future that was never truly real but it also made her feel really, really embarrassed. At least Gigi’s car pulling up outside her house was a welcome distraction. Now all she had to worry about was Bri being inappropriate, which was almost a guarantee at this point. 

Gigi stepped out of the car to help the women with their bags. She was wearing a white skin-tight dress that showed off her long, pale legs. Her blazer was quite similar to the one Crystal was also wearing, except much less creased. She looked like the step-mom from Parent Trap. 

“Ready for your latest adventure, Crystal?” asked Gigi, without much emotion at all in her voice.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” 

“It won’t be so bad. Shea’s going to meet us outside, hopefully she’ll calm your nerves,” reassured Gigi. Crystal smiled softly. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Gigi,” said Bri. Crystal was relieved at her professionalism. 

Gigi raised an eyebrow, “It’s nice to see you sober.” 

Then, without another word, she climbed back into the drivers’ seat. Bri’s mouth had hung open and she waited for Crystal to pass by her before saying anything. 

“I see love doesn’t make one less of a bitch.” 

“Shut up, Bri, please.” 

“I take it you’ll ride shot-gun?” murmured Bri, loud enough to irritate Crystal but not loud enough for Gigi to hear. She looked satisfied with herself when she climbed into the back of the car, phone in her hand. She was probably going to live-tweet the journey, Crystal thought bitterly. 

The agency wasn’t that far away, really, Crystal predicted they’d only have time to listen to two or three songs. It wasn’t that awkward, considering Gigi was focused on the road and Bri’s head was buried in her phone. Crystal just stared out of the window and mouthed along to her favourite parts of each song Gigi put on. She was certain Gigi had shuffled these songs to Crystal’s liking. Though she wished they could sing along together this time. 

“So, have you decided what you want to work on with Shea?” asked Gigi. 

The voice surprised Crystal and it took a moment for her to get her bearings, “Oh, I haven’t really thought about it yet. It doesn’t feel like we’re here on business.” 

“Well, Shea doesn’t know any better. She assumes that Violet’s been planning this trip for months. Besides, it could be a nice distraction.” 

Crystal nodded, knowing she was right, “How long do you think I’ll be here for?” 

Gigi shrugged, not taking her eyes off the road, “It’s not like community service, we can’t keep you there if you don’t want to stay. But things are only just starting to unravel, so I don’t think it’ll be a quick fix.”

“Just what I thought,” grumbled Crystal. 

Gigi’s hand moved from the wheel and it brushed Crystal’s side, as if she were going to hold her hand. Instead, it settled on Crystal’s arm when it gave her a comforting squeeze. 

“Try and enjoy it. Remember, we decided we can’t put your career on hold for him. Then he wins.” 

Crystal nodded, looking back out of the passenger seat window. It wasn’t long before the sights beside her grew more familiar. A few minutes later, she recognised the street ahead which housed the model’s agency. Bri noticed Crystal’s attention had been captured and moved to see what she was looking at. She shook with excitement as she pressed her hands onto the previously pristine windows of Gigi’s car. 

The building was more traditional than modern and not that much smaller than Tchotchke. The front didn’t have the same obnoxious signage either, instead ‘Angel Agencies’ was painted in white cursive lettering on the window. It wasn’t the sort of place that people wander in and out of, since there was only really a need for models and their partners to be there, so they didn’t need to advertise. You didn’t just walk in and earn yourself a job here, you had to know people. For Crystal and Gigi, who’d been in the building many times, they’d sort of forgotten the exclusivity of it. Bri, on the other hand, seemed completely overjoyed at the sight. 

“This feels like being invited to Fashion Week,” breathed Bri. 

“It’s just like working in a gallery or dance studio,” explained Gigi, “it’s not that private, but only people who need to be there go there.” 

“Except, this gallery-slash-studio has a bunch of famous models inside,” countered Bri. 

Security recognised both Gigi and Crystal straight away and asked how their day had been. Gigi was on a first-name-basis with them and enjoyed a polite chat while they rang to let Shea know that the visitors had arrived. 

“Take that parking spot there, Gigi,” said one of the security guards cheerfully, “that tree keeps your car cool all day.” 

“Thank you, Sue. Have a good day now.”

As she’d been instructed, Gigi took the parking spot. When they’d gotten out of the car, Shea was already standing at the front door of the building. She looked incredible in a colourful turtle-neck, mom jeans and heels which all complimented her lack of makeup. Her face glowed brightly when she spotted the three of them heading her way. 

“Hey, Shea,” greeted Gigi once they were close enough to be heard. 

“It’s so good to see you again!” Shea hugged her, even though she knew the gesture wouldn’t be appreciated, because she found it funny when Gigi went limp in her arms. 

Before Crystal or Bri could say anything, Shea started looking around wildly. 

“No way did you guys show up here without Monet,” cried Shea. 

“Some people still have a real job,” shrugged Crystal. 

Shea laughed brightly and lurched forward to pull Crystal into a hug. There was something so comforting about the model and Crystal drank in every second of their interaction. When they pulled away, Shea sighed. 

“You know, Sasha says that me and Monet are like Ahab and Moby Dick. Apparently, I’m obsessed. But it’s not my fault he’s incredible. If I weren’t gay, we’d be married by now, I’m convinced we’re soulmates.” 

“I’m sure we’ll go out again soon,” reassured Crystal. 

“Not with this dark horse though,” laughed Shea, giving Bri a friendly squeeze, “every day I’m amazed you’re still alive.” 

Bri nodded, “You think you’re worried, you should meet my parents. Laila works in a bar, is a complete animal, and I still drink her under the table at every family reunion.”

“Brilliant. Now, let me give you the tour!” Shea exclaimed, reaching for the front door and holding it open for the guests. 

Gigi didn’t follow and Shea shook her head, “No way are you going anywhere yet, Miss Goode. We’ve got so much to show you, lots has changed since your last visit!” 

She hesitated, “I guess I won’t be missed for a little while longer.” 

Shea grinned, clearly excited by the new people who she’d now be sharing her work-day with, and practically dragged them through the doors. Their own receptionist didn’t look up, probably having heard Shea’s voice. Bri still offered him a polite greeting, considering how familiar she was to being ignored at the reception desk, and he seemed to be grateful for it. 

The agency was a lot emptier than Tchotchke, considering how most of the work was done behind closed doors. The photoshoots, meetings and hair/make-up were bustling in the background. Photoshoots didn’t happen every day, of course, and most of the agency’s work was admin and organisation. Less glamourous, but Crystal at least was interested in it. 

“Who’s here today?” asked Crystal as they walked. 

“Yvie and Monique are around here somewhere doing a shoot for Kylie Cosmetics. It’s embarrassing how excited Monique is. I’m sure they’ll come and find us when they’re done.” 

“Oh,” said Shea almost as soon as she’d finished her previous sentence, “we’re interviewing a new model this afternoon to join the agency. Maybe you’d like a chat with her? It’s always good to get some outside perspective.” 

Crystal was surprised when Shea turned to her but she still nodded, “Yeah, of course. As long as I don’t make her nervous.” 

Shea laughed, “Girl, she’s a model. She’s supposed to have nerve, not nerves.” 

“Shea,” said Bri, who’d been unusually quiet, “can you show me where I can get a coffee? Crys woke me up so early this morning that I only had time for one cup.” 

“You’re a monster, but sure. I could do with one too. You women fancy?” asked Shea. Gigi and Crystal both shook their heads. 

“Alright then,” said Shea, linking arms with Bri, “We’ll meet you both back here in a minute.”

“You seem comfortable,” said Gigi once Bri and Shea had wandered off for their coffee break.

“Yeah, it’s nice being here. It really does feel like a break from everything.”

Gigi nodded understandingly, “I hope it stays that way. I have a feeling Shea wants to put you to work.” 

“Well, you know what she’s like.” 

There was a brief pause. Just as Gigi opened her mouth to say something, she shut it again, leaving Crystal with an anxious feeling. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“Nothing’s wrong. I just want to show you something before I go. I might as well, since Shea dragged me here and then abandoned me.” 

Nervously, Crystal agreed. She followed Gigi through the building, wondering what Gigi had to show when she didn’t even work in the agency. No one seemed to bat an eyelid at the pair of them walking through areas they probably weren’t meant to be in. 

“Where are we going?” Crystal asked when she couldn’t take the suspense any longer. 

“Patience,” sighed Gigi, “it’s not that big of a building. We’re nearly there.”

They moved past the changing rooms and studios with their shut doors and muffled music. Now Crystal was sure they weren’t supposed to be down here, it definitely looked restricted. Well, restricted for Crystal but open doors for Gigi, as most things were. 

The room they reached wasn’t locked but was out of the way enough that Crystal couldn’t imagine it was anything too exciting. When Gigi paused at the door, Crystal looked at her.

“In there?” 

Gigi nodded, “It’s open.” 

“I feel like this is where you kill me.” 

“If I was going to kill you, I would’ve just slowly started poisoning your coffee.” 

Crystal laughed, pushing open the door. 

Inside, she found a large walk-in wardrobe, with all sorts of dresses and suit-bags. There was a large mirror that reflected light from the chandelier that hung above it. The walls were painted a pale pink and the wooden floor was hidden by a white rug. Crystal felt as though her shoes weren’t clean enough to walk over it. 

“I’ve never been here before,” mused Crystal. 

“Well, you know we have the Tchotchke Wardrobe, but it’s pretty much only Violet’s favourites. The rest of long-forgotten collections are kept here. They come in handy as back-ups or if someone needs an outfit for an event. Once, when I was going to a Gala my dress ripped at the back and I came here to find another one,” said Gigi. 

“Oh, that’s so cool! I never knew we kept so many.” 

“It’s not supposed to be used, really, unless it’s an emergency. But, basically, I was speaking to the woman who looks after the collections and she found a strange piece in amongst it all. She asked Shea if she wanted it donated, but I had a better idea.” 

“Can I see it?” asked Crystal, wondering why they’d choose just one item to be donated. 

Gigi nodded, “The reason it’s so strange is because it’s a suit, and designers almost always ask for those back because they’re so expensive and they don’t make that many copies. Well, the designer of this suit didn’t anyway. But it was left to us.”

Crystal titled her head, “This is a fascinating fashion lesson, but wasn’t I brought here to work with the models?” 

Gigi huffed, “You sound like Willam.” 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“I know you didn’t. But stop interrupting my story. Anyway, apparently the designer decided it was too masculine for his models. It isn’t a hyper-feminine suit so it didn’t fit with his collection in the end.” 

“That’s stupid.” 

Gigi smiled, “That’s exactly what I thought you’d say.” 

After a little while of moving hangers aside, Gigi found the label-less suit bag she’d been talking about. It definitely looked as though it hadn’t been moved in a long time. She unzipped it carefully, using one arm to carefully remove the suit. She help it up at head-level so Crystal could see. 

The bag held the suit jacket and the matching trousers, obviously designed for a woman but with masculinity written all over the outfit. The suit itself was a baby blue but practically glowed with the hues of white, green, pink and orange. 

“The designer had Monet in mind. The painter that is. I think he captured it really well.”

“It’s gorgeous. Did you want me to maybe style it on one of the models? Incorporate it into whatever piece I do?” asked Crystal. 

Gigi laughed quietly, “I’m not showing you this because of work. I was actually thinking of something else. I know you were saying you didn’t want to wear a dress to Shea’s Gala. I thought maybe you’d like this. I got Violet’s permission, she said we can have it tailored to fit you.” 

A frown crossed over Crystal’s face, but it evaporated when her eyes met Gigi’s, “Wait, do you mean it?”

“Be a bit of a weird joke, don’t you think?” 

“I’m allowed to wear this one-of-a-kind suit just because you thought I’d like it, is that right?” 

“Yeah, basically.” 

Without even thinking about what she was doing, Crystal threw her arms around Gigi’s neck. The hug was almost too tight as the woman held each other. Crystal didn’t want to pull away because of the tears in her eyes that hadn’t quite formed yet but were definitely present enough for Gigi to notice. They stayed like that for a while, until the door to the room slammed shut after being opened silently moments before, making both Crystal and Gigi jump with a lurch of their hearts. 

“Keep it together you two,” said Bri, putting a hand over her eyes, “save it for date night.” 

“Bri!” Crystal scolded. 

“I can’t believe you told her.”


	14. The Interview

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CANNOT thank you guys enough for 300 kudos! It's crazy that people even read this, let alone take the time to like it. It really means the world. So, I started writing this but decided to split it into two parts because I felt like we should have another happy one. That also means I'm nearly finished with chapter 15 already, so hopefully I won't leave you guys hanging this time. Again, thanks so much!

  
Separated from everyone else, Gigi had been in her element. Now, with Shea and Bri nearby, she had grown much quieter. That was the thing about Gigi; she only had a way with words if she had someone else to speak them. As incredible as she was, she wouldn’t make a great television personality like so many people she worked with. She’d always been better behind the scenes or working with large, flamboyant personalities. It had been this discovery that led Crystal to not being so intimidated by the woman. Maybe it was because she finally found she had something that Gigi didn’t, or maybe it was how she’d developed a need to help the woman in social situations. She noticed it now as she spoke to Shea, prompting Gigi as she went. 

They'd made their way back from the wardrobe, with butterflies still flittering around in Crystal's stomach. She couldn't forget how the material of the suit felt in between her two fingers or how it looked like it had been made for her. The best part had been that Gigi recognised it too. 

Gigi grew more comfortable by the time she’d started a conversation of her own and Crystal could take a backseat to day-dream about the suit. She was pulled out of this when she heard the familiar, loud ring of Gigi's phone. She looked apologetically at Shea and Crystal before stepping away to take the call. 

“It’s great to see you both,” grinned Shea as they watched Gigi walk away, “though I’d rather we were in a bar again.”

“I know what you mean, seems like we don’t have time for anything anymore,” agreed Crystal. 

Bri nudged Shea, “Especially now you’re organising a Gala. This must be, like, a huge promotion!” 

“I’m not getting promoted for shit,” laughed Shea. 

“You never know,” said Bri in a sing-song voice, “if you pull this off, I reckon you could be in with a chance. What would you be? Head-Model? Captain-Goddess?”

“I’ll be lucky if I get a pat on the back,” said Shea, “you know Violet.” 

“Well, she trusts you enough with this, so it must mean something,” said Crystal. 

Shea scratched the back of her head, “I know everyone’s buzzing about this Gala, but it isn’t even the important thing I have to organise. I’ve got to actually pick the model for the front cover. It’s so easy to get excited about dressing up and drinking alcohol but honestly, I’m so stressed.” 

“Any one of your models deserves to be on there,” reassured Crystal, “you don’t have to worry. You’ll find the right fit.” 

“I still really have my heart set on Jaida. But, you know, that doesn’t feel right. It’s not fair that I pass up all of my amazing models for someone who we see maybe once or twice a year. I mean, these girls work so hard for me and they deserve more than that,” sighed Shea. 

“You’re too good, Shea,” laughed Bri. 

“She’s right, stop worrying about everyone’s feelings, they’ll all get their time to shine if you’re mentoring them.” 

Shea let out a deep breath, “Tell Violet I’m keeping you both here. I need this kinda reassurance every day. Now, let’s go talk in my office, this place can get pretty busy when there’s a shoot going on. Do you see the paparazzi outside? They think they’re so slick.”

Crystal text Gigi to let her know where they’d wandered off to and she followed Shea down the corridors. Shea’s office was incredibly impressive. The door was made from thin glass and looked incredibly fragile. Shea pushed it open and held it to let the others through. Inside they found dark oak furniture such as a desk, table and large bookshelf. Half of the books were glossy magazines and the other half were tattered classics. Crystal wondered if Sasha came and hid in here sometimes because she was sure classic literature wasn’t Shea’s thing. Shea pulled up a chair to the faux-leather couch. 

“Take a seat you two,” she instructed. 

Bri and Crystal sat down, both lifting up their feet so their shoes didn’t stain Shea’s fluffy white rug with mud. Crystal smiled when she saw three pictures hanging behind Shea’s desk. One was a model shoot Shea did a long time ago, probably one of her first. She definitely looked young. The second was a Tchotchke shoot inspired by the ‘Birth of Venus’. It had always been one of Crystal’s favourites. The last and biggest photo was of Shea and Sasha. They were posing together, Sasha’s hand on Shea’s chest, looking like no one else was in the room. 

Crystal noticed something else, much smaller, when she looked towards the desk. It was sitting under a desk lamp, almost hidden in the shadows. She smiled to herself when she saw it. 

“That was during Sasha’s art show,” Shea explained when she caught Crystal looking at the frames, “I was so proud of her that day.” 

“You two look amazing together,” gushed Bri. 

Shea smiled, “It was probably the first time I’d seen her properly dressed up. I’ve never been speechless before but shit was I close that time.” 

A knock came hammering down on the door, making everyone jump. The others expected it to be Gigi, but Crystal knew different. Gigi was gentle and sophisticated, so even if she’d felt the need to knock it would’ve been much lighter. Besides, she was more likely to just walk in. Instead, she found two models standing behind the door waiting eagerly to be welcomed in. Shea called out to them and they threw open the door. 

“Hi! Crystal!” said Monique and Yvie. 

“You two just can’t stay away, can you?” sighed Shea. 

“We just came to say hi,” shrugged Monique. 

“This is Bri, you probably met her but I doubt for long,” introduced Shea. 

“Hey short-cake,” grinned Monique. 

It was comical watching Bri attempting to talk to the models. Crystal herself wasn’t that tall, but she was at least above the shoulders around her. Bri, on the other hand, was bound to get a sore neck talking to them all. She was at least a foot shorter than them all, and Crystal wondered if the receptionist could even see their faces. Eventually, it seemed as though Bri grew tired of craning her neck and began to stare at the wall behind them instead. 

“So, Crystal,” began Yvie, “what are you actually here to do? Shea never really explained.” 

Shea frowned, “That’s because Crystal never told me! All I know is you’re here to work on a project for the next issue.” 

Crystal knew this would come up eventually. Ever since Gigi asked her earlier this morning, she’d been panicking. She needed a valid reason to be here, but then she also needed to pitch her idea for the issue.

But when Crystal opened her mouth, she heard the click of Gigi’s heels as she re-joined the group. She pushed open the door and all eyes turned to her. Gigi hadn’t expected to find the models in the office too, but she smiled politely at them. 

“Hi, Monique and Yvie, wasn’t it?” Gigi said, holding her hand out for the pair of them to shake. 

“Hey Gigi,” smiled Monique, “did you want to come and see the shots for the Kylie shoot? I’d love to hear what you gotta say.” 

“I’d love to but I’ve just been summoned back to Tchotchke. Everything I do for them and they can’t even give me the morning off,” said Gigi regretfully. 

“That’s alright, you’re a busy woman.” 

“You’re going now?” Crystal looked at Gigi. She’d been getting very used to having Gigi by her side and didn’t want her to go back. She imagined she’d feel much more out of place without her. 

“Oh, come on Crys,” said Shea, “we’ll look after you! You’ll be back to Gigi in no time.” 

“I’ll see you later,” said Gigi before turning her attention to the others, “I’ll see you ladies soon, hopefully before the Gala. I’m sure Shea can spare us an evening to have a few cocktails.” 

“You know it, you owe me some karaoke.” 

Gigi laughed and Crystal drank in every moment of it. Then, Gigi turned on her heels and walked out of the front door. Her phone was ringing again before she’d even really left the building. She held her phone between her cheek and shoulder.

“So, Crystal, I know you’re not as into it as Gigi but do you still want to come and see the shots? I think you’ll like them,” asked Yvie. 

“Yeah, I’d love to.”

“Actually girls, can I have a minute with Crystal before you snatch her away? Won’t be long,” asked Shea. 

“Sure thing,” shrugged Monique, ushering Bri and Yvie out of the room. Once they were gone, Shea waited a moment until she was sure that the three of them weren’t waiting on the other side of the door. 

“I got a glass door on my office so I could see if those idiots were ease-dropping,” explained Shea, “Didn’t work though. They always find the blind-spots.” 

Crystal took a seat next to Shea, watching the nerves crawl all over the model. It was pretty exciting to see someone so composed and confident acting like a school-girl waiting to go on stage for her nativity play. Suddenly, Shea looked 10 years younger as she hunched over, like she was an angsty teenager. 

“Why did you want to talk privately?” asked Crystal, an amused smile on her face. 

“Don’t look at me like that. You don’t know what this is about,” said Shea in an embarrassed fluster.

“I definitely do.” 

“How?” 

Crystal smiled again, “I’ve already seen the ring on your desk. You don’t hide it well.” 

Shea’s eyes widened, “Thank Jesus Sasha isn’t here! I thought it was in my pocket.” 

“So, am I right? That’s what you want to talk about? If you’re asking if I think it’s a good idea, the answer is yes.” 

“You think I should do it? I’ve been so nervous that I couldn’t decide if I had just convinced myself it was a good idea. I needed an outside perspective.” 

Crystal nodded, “There’s never been a better idea before this one.” 

Shea sighed and looked like she was sweating less already. 

“Is that all you wanted, some courage? Shea, you don’t need it. You were made for each other.”

“I sort of need a favour from you too,” said Shea, starting to look nervous again, “I really want to propose to her soon. And…I think the Gala would be the perfect place.” 

Crystal frowned, “Sasha doesn’t really like the limelight, though, does she? She doesn’t strike me as someone who wants to be proposed to in front of a crowd.” 

Shea nodded, “You’re completely right. I want to book a venue with a roof-top and take her up there. I still have to work out the details, but that’s not the point. Problem is, I’ll be so busy at the Gala doing talks and interviews and whatever else. So, I was just wondering, would you take my big speech off my hands? I know how charismatic you are, people will probably prefer it.” 

“But Shea, you’ve been organising this whole thing. Don’t you want to have the speech? I mean, you deserve it.” 

Shea shook her head, “Sasha’s more important than any of this. Besides, I trust you more than anyone to speak on my behalf.” 

Crystal smiled and reached out her hand for Shea to shake. The other woman laughed. 

“Of course I’ll do it. I’m so, so happy for you Shea.” 

Shea smiled, “Me too. I always loved my job and my life but…this is all I’ve ever wanted. And the more I think about it, the more I want it. I just hope she says yes.” 

“Sasha’s smart, of course she’ll say yes. How’d you know you wanted to do it?” 

“Well, I always hoped it would happen, even after our first few dates. It really didn’t take long for me to realise that I’m only really happy when she’s around. Like, wherever I went I would look out for her. If she wasn’t there, it wasn’t worth going. She just got me and I completely understood her, which not many people did. I don’t know, really, I just can’t bear to lose her, so I’m gonna show her that.”

“You say anything like that when you propose,” grinned Crystal, “and she won’t be able to keep her hands off you all night.” 

Shea seemed a lot more at ease now and quickly became really excited to tell Crystal everything about the two of them. Crystal knew from experience that it wasn’t easy being gay in a big, judgemental industry so she wasn’t surprised that Shea wasn’t too quick to let her guard down. Crystal almost wished she’d been more like Shea. 

“Can I tell you a secret?” said Shea. 

“Haven’t you already just done that?” 

“True. But anyway, Sasha told me she was going to wear this red jumpsuit she has. She found it in a thrift shop and it looks so incredible on her. Anyway, I got this engagement ring with a ruby in it so it matches the dress and she can remember the night we got engaged.” 

“Shea, don’t, I will cry,” warned Crystal. 

Shea sighed loudly, “It’s just nice to tell someone and actually be excited about it. I’ve been shitting myself for weeks.” 

“You better come tell me the news as soon as it’s done, or I’ll mess up your speech.” 

“You’ll be the first. Aside from Sash, of course.” 

Both grinning from ear to ear, they stood up to re-join the models outside. They were sitting on the cream couches, talking obnoxiously loud to one and other. Monique was telling a story to Bri, with Yvie interrupting every few seconds to make sure the details were correct. They all stopped when Shea and Crystal approached. 

“You were gone a while,” hummed Monique. 

“Shut up,” laughed Shea, punching the model lightly on the arm. 

“For the record, Crys, you’re definitely the reacher,” commented Bri. 

“Don’t take it personal,” reassured Yvie, “Bri was telling us about her fat crush on Shea.” 

Bri held her hands up in mocking defence, “I stand by it and so should every man and woman on this planet.” 

“Come on, idiots, you should be getting back to work. Keep this up and I won’t let you work with Crystal at all,” said Shea. 

“Yes boss,” chorused Yvie and Monique. They stood up and hugged out their goodbyes before skipping off back to the changing rooms. 

Crystal often wondered what it would be like to be a model. She wasn’t naïve, she knew about the industry and all the expectations, but she couldn’t help but wonder how much better a career it would be. She imagined being chosen just for the way she looked. Maybe it was too superficial for her, but it was a nice dream. 

“So, I guess we should talk practicalities of the work you want to do,” said Shea, “since we haven’t said a word about business since you arrived.” 

“We’ve got to at some point,” agreed Crystal. 

“Can I go look for Monique and Yvie? I want to see their shoot and this is really boring when you’re not involved at all,” begged Bri. 

Shea laughed, “Why are you here again?” 

“Moral support, comedic value, sidekick energy, girl power…you name it.”

“Can’t argue with that girl. Downstairs, door on the right.”

Bri jumped to her feet. Crystal knew how excited she was to experience the agency. Unlike the others, Bri spent her time at Tchotchke sitting behind her desk. The closest she got to expensive fashion and photoshoots was doing admin for them. It was nice that she was allowed to wander around, even though Crystal didn’t trust her not to get into trouble. Monet had told Crystal that Bri was planning on bringing home a souvenir for Jujubee. Crystal just hoped it wouldn’t be anything expensive…or illegal. 

“You’re the best Shea,” said Bri, “I’ll make sure Monet comes to visit now.” 

“You do that and I’ll make you our bridesmaid,” Shea called after her.

“Do I get to be a bridesmaid at your actual wedding?” asked Crystal. 

“Oh my god, keep your voice down! But yes, without a doubt.” 

Crystal grinned. 

“Alright,” said Shea, “we have to at least talk business by the end of the day. Tell me again what we’re doing.” 

“Violet wants a feature article of the front cover model but, obviously, you don’t know who it is yet. I was thinking I could write about your process of choosing someone. You know, what are the values and criteria to be the Tchotchke chosen one? It would be nice to interview some of the girls, maybe get some photos from their shoots, that sort of thing. Maybe I could even get some information on their dresses and designers, since the Gala won’t be filmed.” 

“That’s fine by me,” agreed Shea, “I think it would be good for you to have a piece on the Gala, too. We won’t be advertising much aside from social media but having it in the magazine would be good for our business too.” 

“I’ll be writing the piece on the models but I’m hoping Violet will let me have the other one too. If not, I’ll have to pass it onto someone else.” 

“Monet?” 

Crystal shook her head, “It should probably be someone who can spell.” 

Shea laughed, “Gotcha.” 

They’d gotten through most of the planning for the articles when they’d been interrupted again. Crystal had felt someone hovering over her shoulder and turned around to look. Shea seemed to know the newcomer quite well and after a while Crystal recognised him as the receptionist from before. 

“Hey, Freddie,” smiled Shea. 

“Hi Shea, just wanted to let you know there’s someone here to see you. She says she might be a bit early,” said the receptionist, looking past Crystal. 

The visitor was standing behind the receptionist and Crystal turned to see who it was. She found a woman there, smiling politely. She acknowledged Crystal but her attention was fixed on Shea. She obviously wanted to impress her. 

“A model who’s early, I’ve never even heard of that,” laughed Shea, standing up to shake the woman’s hand. 

The woman was taller than anyone else in the building, even though Crystal found it hard to believe, but she towered over them all. Her heels helped her with this feat, of course, but Crystal was sure her height was natural too. The heels on her feet did enhance impossibly long pale legs, though. Her baby-blonde hair fell into fluffy, untamed curls. Her parted hair sent curls down one contoured cheek, brushing past ivory skin. With an hour-glass figure, perfect eyebrows and full lips, it didn’t take a genius to assume this woman was the potential new model.

Shea turned to Crystal, “This is Brooke Lyn.” 

Brooklyn tutted, “Brooke, please.” 

Her accent came through in her name, and Crystal assumed the woman was Canadian. 

“I’m Crystal.” 

Brooke smiled, “I know. I didn’t know you were going to be here though, it’s really nice to meet you.” 

“Crystal’s going to come join us for your interview,” explained Shea, “We work with outside agencies all the time, especially Tchotchke. It’ll be good for you to get a feel for it, since Crystal does pretty much all of our interviews and features.” 

“Can’t wait,” said Brooke, who to her credit didn’t look even slightly intimidated. 

Shea led the two of them into her office. She pulled up a chair so this time Crystal was on the same side of the desk as her friend. Brooke sat opposite them with perfect posture, her hands resting in her lap. Crystal still wasn’t entirely sure what she was needed for, besides a cheap intimidation tactic, so she sat silently and let Shea do her work.

“You’re from Toronto, aren’t you? How come you decided to come here?” 

Brooke thought for a moment, “Opportunity, I suppose. Staying in my hometown led me to do some great things but I couldn’t be better there.” 

“Tell me a bit about your dancing background, I’m sure you know how handy that is when modelling.” 

Brooke nodded, “I’m a ballet dancer, specifically. I worked with the Cape Town City Ballet and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.” 

“We don’t have many dancers here, it’s a good advantage. We fast-tracked your interview because Yvie told us about you. You did some modelling together, I believe, and she said you really impressed her. Can you bring anything new to here? I don’t want Yvie saying you’re exactly as she remembers.” 

“I have a lot more experience now,” reassured Brooke, “I’ve been learning to combine dance with modelling. Honestly, I’d be surprised if Yvie even recognised me.” 

Shea smiled, turning to Crystal, “Have you got anything you want to ask?” 

The question threw Crystal off. She wasn’t used to having any sort of power. She’d never even been a manager or supervisor before in her life. The way Brooke’s overly-friendly eyes rested on her made her uncomfortable. She knew Shea loved the feeling, but Crystal didn’t get it. She didn’t like to be the reason for someone’s success, or more importantly, failure. 

“Why do you like modelling? And dancing?” asked Crystal. 

Brooke paused for a long moment. 

“I could tell you something stupid but, truthfully, I like the attention. I like knowing that I can capture attention with just my face, or my movement. I think it’s something a lot of people aren’t confident enough to enjoy, but I am, so I think I need to embrace it. 

“What do you want to get out of all this?” 

“I want to be known.” 

“Being known isn’t always a good thing,” said Crystal. 

“It can only be a bad thing if you care about what people think.” 

Crystal sat back in her chair, turning to Shea. She gave an excited nod. She wasn’t a professional at this but she decided that wanting to work with Brooke was enough to warrant her a chance. Besides, the woman was interesting, and that meant she always had something to write about. 

Shea stood up and the other two followed. 

“I’d like to chat more. Are you available tomorrow, say lunch time?”

Brooke nodded eagerly, “Of course.” 

“I’m going to bring in one of our models, Vanessa, and see what she makes of you. It’s important you win over their hearts too. But if that goes well, I’d say you’ve got yourself a job.” 

Brooke beamed, “Thank you so much, really, I can’t thank you enough.” 

Shea laughed, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Do you remember the way out or do you need a hand?” 

“I remember. I need to get the hang of it, anyway,” said Brooke, saying her goodbyes and letting herself out of the room. 

“I really liked her,” said Crystal once the door was closed. 

“Never,” said Shea very sternly, “tell Willam about her. That whole time all I could think about was him.” 

Crystal laughed, “Your secret’s safe with me.” 

“I do like her as well, though. We need some more of that fresh, I’m-too-good-for-you attitude in here. Everyone’s too nice now,” said Shea. 

Crystal settled back into the chair she was sitting in. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, telling herself she was just checking the time. Instead, she found a message from Gigi. Her smile formed without much thought, but she brought it in quickly so that Shea wouldn’t notice. 

Georgina: Good luck today. Just be you x 

Crystal liked the message, hoping the butterflies she felt wouldn’t translate into the screen. She put her phone back hastily, hoping Shea wouldn’t comment. When she looked up, she could see Shea was smiling down at her own phone. It was pretty obvious she was messaging Sasha. Crystal thought back to the smile she'd felt on her own lips just moments ago. The butterflies stopped fluttering. If Crystal felt love like Shea did, she was in trouble. Gigi wasn't Sasha. She was doomed.


	15. Leaks and Phone Calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm sorry about this one. It's all downhill from here. Thank you so much for your continued support and I hope, even though the chapters are months apart, that you still manage to enjoy them <3

The two of them worked for a reasonably long time. The thing about Shea’s job was that it couldn’t be defined in terms of written words or positive feedback like Crystal’s. The woman was being called out of the room every few moments to deal with a new crisis. Crystal was getting used to having her words drowned out by the sound of opening doors and whines of ‘Shea!”. Still, they kept working until they were four coffees in. Everyone in the agency had eventually stopped pestering Shea, aside from a few hundred emails. In that peaceful free time, they narrowed down a list of models for interviews, talked about the potential front model and what they wanted the article to portray, and the promotion that would accompany it. Honestly, Crystal had probably done more work today than she’d done in the past few weeks. Not having Gigi around meant she wasn’t distracted. But she didn’t like it. 

A few hours later they’d decided to give each other a break. With laptops filled with notes, chewed pencils, and tired eyes, Crystal moved on to wedding plans. Shea was already irritable, claiming she’d solved one too many problems, but Crystal was excited and couldn’t help but press for more details. 

“In my head, Sasha wants a traditional wedding but you want a really fashion-forward, modern one. Are you just going to split the church in half? You probably won’t even do the church, will you? Oh, I can imagine a forest wedding. With tree-stumps for seats and a berry cake and fairy-lights.” 

“Crys, calm down, she hasn’t even said yes yet.” 

Crystal cocked her head, “Is there a doubt in your head that thinks she won’t say yes?” 

Shea shrugged, “I’m just saying, people can surprise you.” 

“Not Sasha. You are basically the same person.” 

Shea hummed in agreement. Then, she looked up and her eyes met Crystal’s. They glittered with mischief and Crystal gulped, knowing exactly where this was going. 

“So…” Shea began, and Crystal was already dreading it, “I’ll need to know if you need a plus one to the wedding or not. Do you think that’s something you’ll need?” 

“Shea!” groaned Crystal. 

“I want to be a bridesmaid too, okay bitch? You’re the only person I can trust here to have any sort of stable relationship! Do you think I’m holding out on Willam? Or Violet? Or a model? I don’t think so!” 

“I think you’d be better off finding some hope somewhere else.” 

“Tell you what, we’ll head down to the clubs or a bar or something and find you someone nice? And then I’ll have my maid of honour speech all ready because I was the one who got you together,” suggested Shea. 

“Oh, maid of honour now?” laughed Crystal. 

“I’m just planting the idea in your head. We’ll need to go soon, though, because everyone will be expecting you to bring someone to the Gala. Obviously, plenty of people aren’t bringing partners, it’s not a school dance, but it’s a good opportunity for a date. Think about it- open bar, free food, nice clothes, good music...it’s perfect.” 

“We’ll see. I might be too busy practising your speech,” Crystal teased.

She wondered if she was supposed to tell Shea that Gigi was her date. Honestly, it hadn’t been something Crystal had considered when she’d asked Gigi out. Would it be completely platonic to everyone outside of them? There was no way Gigi would kiss her on the dancefloor or hold her hand as she dragged her to meet her friends, but surely, they’d look like more than friends? She liked to think that they had slightly more chemistry than that. Maybe everyone would be too distracted to notice if Crystal dragged Gigi away for a private moment. That’s what she hoped, of course. A romantic Gala with an engagement was perhaps the only perfect opportunity to make a move on someone. 

“To answer your question,” Shea’s loud voice brought Crystal back to the present, “I’m perfectly aware of the fact that Sasha is going to want some stupid, avant-garde wedding. I’m going through the stages of grief and I’ve finally hit acceptance. She’s so lucky I’d do anything for her, even getting married on a farm or some shit.” 

“Horse-back,” gasped Crystal. 

Shea wrinkled her nose, “Maybe you should marry her instead.” 

Crystal laughed, stretching her legs out in front of her, finally feeling the numbness of her body. She’d been sat in the same position for hours. Shea had perched at the edge of her desk; one leg crossed over the other very elegantly. 

Her phone had already been in her hand when an alert sounded, echoing through the room. It wasn’t the happy bleep of social media, instead they recognised it as a news alert, since they’d all had to turn their notifications on as journalism students. Crystal had made the point to herself that she didn’t really need to know everything about the world’s news to be a fashion journalist, but she still quite liked knowing what was going on. Shea wasn’t as tuned into the world around her as people like Crystal and Gigi, but she cared just as much. 

Crystal hadn’t been paying much attention, as she assumed the news would be nothing more than celebrity gossip. After all, why would it be anything more? Even though her own world was hanging on by hinges, the rest of it had kept spinning as it always had. There was nothing sinister about the news alert. That is, until Crystal found her eyes drifting sub-consciously to Shea’s face. It had twisted into a very concerned, confused expression. Her eyes had grown grave, though, which panicked the journalist. 

“What’s wrong? Is Sasha okay?” asked Crystal, her mind wandering away from the news and to other terrifying scenarios. 

“Sasha’s completely fine.” 

“Okay, that’s good. You really scared me for a second.” 

Shea didn’t reply. 

“Has something bad happened?” she asked, seeing that the expression on Shea’s face still hadn’t changed. 

“Crys,” Shea said extremely slowly, “I think you’d best check Twitter. I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like you might want to consider a lawsuit. I mean, this isn’t just ridiculous but it’s downright offensive.” 

Crystal’s heart sunk, “What, me? It’s about me?” 

“Just look.”

Instead of waiting for Crystal to pull her own phone out, Shea fumbled around with her own to show her. Just as she pulled herself from her desk and began to walk over to Crystal, the other woman’s phone rang. 

“Sorry Shea, I won’t be a moment. You can show me after, okay?” 

“But-”

Crystal waved an apology to Shea, who she felt bad for interrupting when the woman was obviously distressed. She found her phone and saw that Gigi was ringing her. For a moment she contemplated not answering, but she figured it would be something important. Gigi didn’t really like to call much, she preferred text. She’d once told Crystal that she hated talking on the phone because it was as suffocating as a real-life conversation. At least over text it was easy to ignore someone. Crystal answered and pressed her phone to her ear. She moved away from Shea to give the conversation some privacy. 

“Crystal?” came Gigi’s voice, hurried and high-pitched. 

“Hey, Gigi, is everything alright?”

“I’m so sorry.” 

“Why? Is this about whatever Shea was trying to show me?” 

Shea barely gave Crystal time to finish her sentence before she began to speak again, “There’s been a leak. I don’t know how, I guess someone must’ve been in Tchotchke and seen the lawyer. They must’ve overheard some of what we said. It’s just made headlines. Speculation, of course, but as good as confirmed.” 

Crystal put her head in her hands, “Shit, Gigi, how much do they know?” 

Shea’s eyes widened. 

“They know enough,” came Gigi’s reply from the other end of the line, “Our case is compromised and the Chief will assume you’ve taken this public. I-I don’t know what to do.” 

“We can fix this right? I’m so scared,” said Crystal, her voice wavering. 

“You know I won’t stop until it’s dealt with. You just stay off your phone as much as you can. I’m going to make a few calls and then I’ll come and pick you up, okay?”

“Okay, thank you, Gigi. I’ll see you later.” 

Crystal hung up with shaking hands. She slid it into her pocket without being able to look at the screen for even a second. When she looked up to see Shea, the woman was biting her lip. 

“So…everything. It’s true?”

“I-I haven’t seen what the headlines are yet but…probably, yes,” said Crystal quietly. 

To her surprise, Shea engulfed her in a hug. It was different. Gigi’s comfort was much more proactive. She didn’t see the point in offering a hug because she felt as though it was no use to Crystal, not really. Bri and Monet tried harder to make Crystal laugh, or smile. They liked to be a distraction rather than a comfort. Having fiercely strong arms wrapped around her, so tight that she stopped trembling, it almost made tears spring to Crystal’s eyes. They stayed like that for a while. 

“We’re going to stop him, you’ll be safe,” Shea murmured into her ear, with the conviction of a mother talking to her daughter. 

That was that, then. Shea’s words had confirmed that the leak had been pretty spot on. Her anxiety was reaching levels she hadn’t known possible and she just let herself tremble in Shea’s arms. When Crystal pulled herself away from the hold, Shea walked over to the office door and locked it. She twisted the white blinds until they blocked out anyone who dared to peer into the office. The room descended into darkness. It wasn’t pitch-black, but it was more the sort of dark that was quiet enough to think in. Shea’s window provided a gentle light, like when you light a candle at night. The room felt quieter and bigger, which left plenty of opportunity for Crystal’s thoughts to run wild. 

Crystal reached for her phone. 

“Crys, don’t look. It won’t make you feel any better.” 

“I just want to see how much they know.”

“Don’t torture yourself. It’s definitely not a good idea to see what they’re saying. It doesn’t matter, anyway. Gigi will fix this right? This is what she does.” 

“Maybe this is too much...even for her,” murmured Crystal. 

“Don’t say that.” 

Crystal’s phone began to ring again. She’d had her notifications turned off, but she spotted how many messages she’d received in the last fifteen minutes. At least half of them were from Monet and Bri, which provided her with some relief. She felt even better when she saw that Monet was calling. 

“Hey, Monet.” 

“Girl, are you okay? Have you heard?” 

“Yeah, I’ve been told. Is it really bad?” 

There was a pause before Monet spoke again, “It doesn’t matter. Whatever the worst-case scenario is, we’ll deal with it together. This might even be a good thing.” 

Crystal hummed in sceptical agreement.

“What are you going to do?” 

“Gigi wants to meet up later. I’m hoping she’ll be able to fix some of it. But...I don’t know. I really don’t know.” 

“Okay,” breathed Monet, “you’re going to be okay.” 

“Thanks, Monet. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go. I’ve got a lot of things to think about.” 

“Oh, of course. See you soon baby.” 

His voice rang in her ears even after she put the phone down. Shea had been sitting in the corner, chewing her lip, trying not to listen in to the conversation. Crystal knew it was bad because Shea hadn’t even asked to speak with him. 

“I’ve been texting Sash,” said Shea, “she said the editors and executives are refusing to have a meeting without you and a lawyer present. I think everything will come to a halt until you and the Chief go to court. But it looks like you’ve got plenty of support.” 

“That’s good,” she sighed. 

“They haven’t spoken to the Chief.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I’m scared about. Now he has time to prepare his defence. He’s probably deleted all the camera footage and found fake witnesses by now,” said Crystal miserably. 

“If he does, he’ll get caught. I promise.” 

A text came through, vibrating in Crystal’s pocket. Though she was trying her best not to look at any message coming through, she knew who this one was from. She went quickly to her messages to respond. Before she did, she found several texts from Bri. Crystal felt a pang of guilt. Her friend was running around somewhere in the building probably worried sick about her. She made a mental note to reply to her whenever she could. Though she assumed Monet would’ve informed her that she was fine, which reassured her a little bit. 

Georgina: Getting in the car now. Do you want to see if Shea will give me a visitor pass so you don’t have to come down?

Crystal typed her reply, saying she was perfectly capable of going by herself. Besides, she couldn’t live in Shea’s office forever. She’d have to brave the outside world at some point, so she might as well practice by walking through the agency. 

“I think Gigi will be here soon,” said Crystal. 

“Do you want me to go fetch her?” Shea asked softly. 

“No-no it’s fine. I can’t hide forever. I’ll just meet her at reception.” 

Shea nodded, “I’ll get out of here. I think Monique wanted a word anyway. Use my office for as long as you’d like.” 

“Thanks, Shea, for everything.” 

Shea smiled and left. It was jarring to see someone with such a vibrant personality act so...dull. Crystal knew this was the reason she didn’t want anyone to know. She didn’t want everyone to treat her like a child on the verge of a tantrum. She was perfectly capable of taking a joke despite everything that had happened. All she could do was hope that, when the news sunk in, Shea would get back to herself. 

The agency was even scarier than it had been when she’d first walked in. There was never that many people in the building anyway, but it was like they were all avoiding her now. The place could’ve been abandoned. She was almost grateful when she saw the receptionist sitting at his desk, already giving her a sympathetic smile. It sucked, but at least there was one person who could stand looking at her. Maybe it was just because he couldn’t leave his desk. 

“Are you leaving, Miss Methyd?” he asked her, all too politely. 

“No, I’m meeting Miss Goode. We have a few things we need to go over before the day ends.” 

There was a pause. 

“Would you like a sweet? I’ve got mints or jellybeans,” he offered. 

Crystal caught herself frowning before shaking the expression away. She smiled as sweetly as she could and reached for a jellybean. She took a handful, unsatisfied with the flavour she’d grabbed from the tub the first time. 

“Hey,” he spoke quietly, like he was sharing a secret, “I just want to say that I think you’re really brave.” 

It wasn’t as though he was saying anything rude, but it still didn’t sit well with her. 

“Thanks,” she said awkwardly. 

“I think your friend is here,” he said. He seemed happy that he’d said his piece and went back to typing away at his computer. 

Just as the receptionist had said, a woman was running through the front doors. 

Gigi looked as though she’d been running in a storm. Her hair was wrapped around her rosy face, leaving her practically blind, but she made no effort to fix it. Her jacket buttons were done up wrong, meaning she’d definitely left in a hurry. Even her mascara had found its way to her cheeks. In any other circumstance, Crystal would absolutely love the sight in front of her. This time, though, she was terrified. 

The woman barely saw Crystal ahead of her in time, skidding to a halt and nearly knocking the journalist to the ground. Gigi’s eyes were wide. Crystal didn’t move for a while, just staring into them. It was a cliché to say the world stopped when she saw Gigi again, but at the very least, the voice in her head stopped its screaming. 

“Crystal,” breathed Gigi. 

“I know,” she replied, knowing from the look in Gigi’s eyes that she was offering an apology.

Gigi lunged forward and pulled Crystal into a hug. They stood, together but tense, until Crystal found herself relaxing into the embrace. She felt her body form against Gigi’s as if it were a liquid. One of Gigi’s hands went up to the back of Crystal’s head and the other wrapped around her. She was being held so firmly that Crystal wondered if Gigi thought she’d fall apart if she wasn’t held together. 

“Shea said we can use her office to talk,” said Crystal quietly, her mouth almost touching Gigi’s ear. 

They pulled apart. 

“Okay, let’s go.” 

Shea had left the blinds down when she’d left the room. She’d assured Crystal that no one in the building would think a bad word about her, but she’d still gone to see the models. Shea had told Crystal that she needed to check on the photoshoot, but Crystal knew better. She was making sure Crystal’s shit-show of a life wasn’t becoming the new workplace gossip. Workplace gossip was always brutal, even when it didn’t involve models. 

Crystal supposed this wasn’t just some rumour about who she was sleeping with. Her business was in the news, probably spreading across the world of social media faster than anything she’d been famous for before. She couldn’t blame the models for talking about it. It wasn’t as if it was a secret anymore. 

Gigi locked the door behind them, taking a seat in Shea’s chair. Crystal fell back into the same one she’d been perched in before. She silently begged Gigi not to speak for a moment. For the first time since everything had gone horribly wrong, she felt a tiny bit of peace. Anxiety still boiled and threatened to spill from every part of her body, but she felt safe. Whether she was actually safe or not was a different story, but she appreciated it anyway. Gigi could apparently read minds because she was waiting for Crystal to speak first. 

“What happened before you got here?” she asked.

Gigi began to fix her hair, “I tried to follow protocol. I spoke to some press representatives about personality rights and they’ve agreed to remove your name and photos from anything they’ve published.”

“That’s great, but we need the stories taken down too,” Crystal pushed.   
“I know,” sighed Gigi, “they said they were allowed to publish a story if it’s anonymous.” 

The woman couldn’t sit still. She’d been fidgeting in her chair until it had gotten easier for her to stand. Now, she was pacing around so fast that the bottoms of her heels were undoubtedly being worn down at a rapid rate. 

“IPSO,” she said, sounding out of breath.

“I-what?” asked Crystal. 

“Ethics. You were a victim of assault, which means the press can’t identify you. But they’ve already done it, so reviewing their stories does nothing. They’ve already gone public so it’s automatically not anonymous. We can apply to get it all taken down.” 

“Some of them didn’t say a name in the first place, though.” 

“As long as there’s enough there that could identify you, they have to take it down. Don’t worry, I can destroy this whole thing by the end of the day.” 

Crystal sighed, “It’ll be too late then, Gigi.” 

“Well, what else do you expect me to do?” snapped Gigi, making Crystal flinch. She disguised it as a blink but Gigi noticed and softened quickly. 

“I’m sorry, I’m stressed.” 

“It’s fine.” 

It felt as though the room around them had suddenly grown cold. Crystal tugged at her clothes to stop herself from shivering. It was like if she covered herself in her own clothes, she’d be taking up less room. That was the problem; she couldn’t help but feel like Gigi would be living a peaceful life if Crystal hadn’t been assigned to her. 

While she was staring at the woman, a phone rang again. Honestly, Crystal was tempted to throw each of their phones out of the window. If it was her phone, it would be someone offering sympathy or the press asking for more details. If it was Gigi’s...it would probably mean something worse. Everyone had accepted by now that Gigi managed Crystal’s career, so went through her for pretty much anything. It never really bothered Crystal, who hated any sort of attention, but now she couldn’t help but feel left in the dark. 

The phone ringing was Gigi’s. She checked the screen, probably to determine whether or not it was important, and her eyebrow raised. It was definitely someone she hadn’t expected to call her. She picked up before Crystal had a chance to check the phone screen for herself. 

“Who is it?” mouthed Crystal, but Gigi waved her hand to shush her.

“Hi, it’s good to hear from you again,” said Gigi in her formal, polite voice that she reserves for clients.

Gigi was quiet for a while, listening to whatever the person on the other end was saying. Crystal had motioned for her to put the phone on speaker, but Gigi was ignoring her. 

“I don’t think I understand what you’re saying,” Gigi said finally, “I don’t think you should make professional decisions like that. No, I know, but business and personal values don’t overlap like that. You’re making a big mistake.” 

Gigi’s voice was starting to crack under the pressure of the phone call. 

“How about we set up a meeting for tomorrow morning? I think this is something we should discuss in person. I know you’re busy, but there are all sorts of miscommunication over the phone. Yes, sir, I know you think that, but I can promise you you’re wrong.” 

Crystal heard the sound of someone hanging up. Gigi took her phone away from her ear, looking at her screen in disbelief. Clearly, she hadn’t been the one who hung up, then. Her mouth hung agape and her hand was barely clutching the phone in it. 

“Everything okay?” Crystal asked, completely prepared to be ignored once again. 

“That was Thomas’s assistant, Charlotte. Apparently, he’s cancelling the television slot. He’s seen the news articles and he’s decided to publicly side with the Chief.”

“What? But making up with Thomas was the only thing saving my job,” asked Crystal. 

Gigi looked like she’d seen a ghost, “I know.”


End file.
